BioG-2005-007 MBT_AnnexD0.0009 G-J (Final).pdf

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 G-J: Global Renewables

Grontmij Haase Anlagenbau

Hese Herhof

Horstmann ISKA

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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

© Juniper Consultancy Services Ltd. 2005. All rights reserved.

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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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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 - 1 2 0

A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s G LO BA L RE N E WA B LE S

© J u n i pe r Co ns u l ta nc y S e rv i c e s L t d , 20 05

T + 44 145 3 86 075 0 E i n f o @ j u n i pe r .c o .u k W w w w . j u n i pe r .c o .u k

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GLOBAL RENEWABLES

Summary of the process

Global Renewables’ first MBT reference plant utilises a percolation process integrated with a mechanical pre-treatment system and a composting process, which is used to treat the solid outputs from the percolation process.

The main outputs from the integrated process being commissioned in Australia are a bio-stabilised fraction to be used as ‘compost’ (referred to by GRL as Organic Growth Media (OGM); biogas, which is being used in on-site gas engines and various dry recyclables.

Type of process being marketed

No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plant

Commercial status on MSW feedstock

Commercial plant currently being

commissioned in Sydney, Australia

Advantages Disadvantages

Key advantages & disadvantages

• company has secured a ‘flagship’ contract for Sydney, Australia

• process can be a net energy producer via biogas utilisation

• the integrated process design is not yet fully proven with MSW at any scale

• marketing the ‘compost’ fraction will be more difficult in the UK because of regulatory barriers and consumer resistance

• lack of design and operational experience within the MSW sector.

Contact details Global Renewables UK, Westport House, 35 Frederick Road, Salford M6 6LD.

Tel: +44 161 745 7010 Fax: +44 161 745 7660

www.globalrenewables.com

Key contact David Singh

General Manager - Development

Email: [email protected]

M e c h a n i c a l

s e p a r a t i o n

P e r c o l a t i o n

P r o c e s s

C o m p o s t i n g

D r y r e c y c l a b l e s B i o g a s t o e l e c t r i c i t y

‘ C o m p o s t ’

M S W





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Overview

D3.310 . G loba l Renewab les (GRL) i s j o in t l y owned by the Aus t ra l i an s tock -marke t l i s ted company Go ld and Resource Deve lopments NL (GRD) and Has t ings Fund Management (HFM) . GRD’s co re bus iness i s go ld recovery th rough i t s pa r t ownersh ip o f OceanaGo ld . I n i t s 2003 f i nanc ia l repor t GRD repor ted a tu rnover o f 225 .3M Aus t ra l i an do l l a rs ( c . £92M) .

D3 .311 . GRL was fo rmed in 2000 to marke t a mun ic ipa l was te management concep t ca l l ed ‘UR-

3R ’ (Urban Resource - Reduc t ion , Recovery and Recyc l i ng ) . The concep t b r ings

toge the r d i f fe ren t was te p rocess ing sys tems to fo rm an in teg ra ted MBT p rocess . GRD

Minproc , a 100% owned subs id ia ry o f GRD, wh ich has ex tens ive exper ience in

eng ineer ing and bu i l d ing p ro jec ts i n the m in ing and minera l recovery i ndus t r i es ,

pe r fo rms the p rocess des ign and eng ineer ing work to i n teg ra te the d i f fe ren t sys tems

and de l i ve r UR-3R p ro jec ts .

D3 .312 . The f i rs t UR-3R fac i l i t y i s cu r ren t l y be ing commiss ioned a t a s i te w i th in the Eas te rn

Creek was te management cen t re i n Sydney. We unders tand tha t the fac i l i t y i s owned

and opera ted by GRL under a was te supp ly con t rac t w i th Was te Recyc l i ng and

Process ing Corpora t ion (Was te Serv i ce NSW) – a New Sou th Wa les S ta te government

owned co rpo ra t ion .

D3 .313 . The p rocess compr ises a pe rco la t i on sys tem supp l i ed by the German company ISKA

(see ISKA process rev iew) , a mechan ica l p re - t rea tment s tage deve loped by GRD

Minproc , a compos t ing sys tem supp l ied by the I ta l i an company Sora in Cecch in i Tecno

(SCT) and a compos t re f i n ing sec t ion f rom the Germany company Hamatech.

D3 .314 . GRL in fo rmed Jun ipe r tha t the UR-3R p rocess wou ld be ‘ t a i l o red ’ fo r d i f f e ren t marke ts ,

and ind i ca ted tha t they m igh t a l so in teg ra te p rocess e lements f rom o the r supp l ie rs fo r

fu tu re p ro jec ts . They con f i rmed however tha t the ISKA perco la t i on sys tem wi l l con t inue

to be the co re techno logy in the i r MBT p rocess .

D3 .315 . GRL has an exc lus i ve l i cense to marke t the ISKA p rocess in Aus t ra l i a , New Zea land ,

As ia and the Pac i f i c , bu t we were in fo rmed by ISKA tha t GRL wou ld have to ob ta in a

separa te l i cence i f t hey w ish to use the ISKA sys tem fo r p ro jec ts i n the UK. ISKA and

GRL a re p romot ing separa te p rocess concep ts ; however , i t seems tha t the two

compan ies wou ld work toge the r fo r UK p ro jec ts .

Status of Technology

D3.316 . The UR-3R p rocess has no t ye t been p roven a t any sca le as an in teg ra ted sys tem.

No tw i ths tand ing th i s , t he company has a l ready secured one o f the mos t h igh p ro f i l e MBT

p ro jec ts i n the wor ld (Sydney) and has been shor t l i s ted fo r a s ign i f i can t p ro jec t i n the





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UK. Dur ing the f i na l i sa t ion o f th i s rev iew, GRL in fo rmed us tha t they have been

se lec ted as p re fe r red b idder fo r a con t rac t i n Me lbourne , Aus t ra l i a .

D3 .317 . The Eas te rn Creek fac i l i t y i s des igned to t rea t be tween 175,000 to 220,000 Tpa o f

m ixed MSW and s ta r ted the commiss ion ing p rocess in Sep tember 2004 . We asked GRL

abou t the exac t schedu le fo r commerc ia l opera t ion . The company in fo rmed us tha t the

fac i l i t y has now ach ieved 70% o f the des ign th roughpu t i n the f i rs t t h ree mon ths o f

commiss ion ing and tha t i t w i l l be ramped-up to fu l l capac i t y i n February 2005 . We have

no t rev iewed any da ta to ascer ta in whe the r commiss ion ing o f the key e lements o f the

UR-3R p rocess has been t roub le - f ree .

D3 .318 . GRL i s a l so p romot ing the UR-3R concep t i n the UK and i s one o f fou r compan ies to

p re -qua l i f y to p rocess 600,000 Tpa MSW in Lancash i re . Th is wou ld en ta i l up to th ree

UR-3R fac i l i t i es be ing cons t ruc ted .

D3 .319 . Un l i ke the ISKA MBT o f fe r i ng tha t has so fa r on ly t rea ted res idua l MSW a t one p lan t i n

Germany, the GRL UR-3R p rocess has been eng ineered to t rea t a m ixed MSW feed and

to recover a l a rge range o f po ten t ia l l y recyc lab le ou tpu ts . Wh i le ex tens ive was te p re -

t rea tmen t has been in t roduced and eng ineered by GRD Minproc , i t has no t ye t been

p roven and the re fo re the qua l i t y o f the ou tpu ts f rom th i s pa r t o f the p rocess i s

uncer ta in . As a resu l t i t may be d i f f i cu l t t o nego t ia te su i tab le o f f - take a r rangements fo r

the p rocess ou tpu ts un t i l t he p lan t i s i n fu l l commerc ia l opera t ion and su i tab le da ta i s

ava i l ab le . Dur ing the f ina l i sa t ion o f th i s rev iew GRL in fo rmed us tha t they have

“ commenced de l i ve r ing recyc lab les (HDPE, PET, paper , fe r rous and nonfe r rous meta ls )

under o f f - take con t rac ts i n Sydney” .

D3 .320 . The pe rco la t ion e lement o f the p rocess was opera ted as a demons t ra to r p lan t fo r a

pe r iod o f 2 -3 years and ISKA repor ted a re la t i ve l y h igh leve l o f ava i lab i l i t y a t t h i s p lan t

( see ISKA rev iew) . ISKA in fo rmed us tha t the longes t pe r iod the who le p lan t opera ted

on a con t inuous bas is was fo r e igh t weeks o f t r i a l s du r ing wh ich t ime the p lan t

p rocessed over 100 Tpd and opera ted fo r seven days pe r week in two-sh i f t s . They to ld

us tha t these t r i a l s were the ‘p rov ing ’ tes ts tha t were requ i red by GRL to demons t ra te

the techno logy.

D3 .321 . SCT has more than ten p lan ts t rea t ing MSW in I ta l y , F rance and Canada. The MSW

sor t i ng and compos t ing p lan ts , i n wh ich SCT ’s techno logy opera tes , range in capac i t y

f rom 100 to 1200 Tpd (c . 30 ,000 to 360 ,000 Tpa) .

The Process

D3.322 . The m ixed was te fed to the p rocess i s sc reened to remove bu lky i t ems . The rema in ing mate r i a l s then pass v ia a bag opener to t rommels , wh ich d i v ide the was te in to two s t reams : an ‘ove rs i ze ’ f rac t i on , wh ich con ta ins par t i c les wh ich were re ta ined in the t rommel ;

and , an ‘unders i ze ’ f rac t i on , wh ich con ta ins mos t o f the b iodegradab le o rgan ic ma te r ia l s .





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Figure D86: The UR-3R process to be operated in Sydney

S ou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f GRL ’ s i n fo rmat ion

Solid residues

Bulky paper, plastics, etc.

KEY

Process water

Bulky items

The dotted lines above show an alternative process configuration

Percolation & Hydrolysis

Wet Digester

Wastewater Treatment

Landfilled

EmissionsRecyclables Further

Upgrading

Bag Opener

AirSolids

Press

Press water

In-Hall composting

process

Off-gases to biofilter

‘Compost’

Residue Stream Energy

Mixed Waste

Trommels

Hand-picking line

Screen‘oversize’

Air Separator

Hand-picking line

Paper & cardboard

Light plastics (recycle or

landfill)

Residual ‘oversize’

Light fraction

Clear glassHand-picking line

Screen‘undersize’

Brown glass

Other glass

Hand-picking line

PET

HDPE

Process water

Fe-metals

Metal separation

NonFe-metals

Residues to landfill

Metal separation

Fine organics

Maturation & Secondary Refining

Settling tank

For re-use as process water

water

Primary Refining

De-watered solids

Inerts to landfill or to ADC stream Rejects

ADC for landfill cover

Shredder

Gas engines

Heat and Power

Solid residues


KEY

Process water

Bulky items



Wet Digester


Landfilled


Upgrading

Bag Opener

AirSolids

Press

Press water

In-Hall composting

process


‘Compost’


Mixed Waste

Trommels

Hand-picking line


Air Separator

Hand-picking line

Paper & cardboard


landfill)


Light fraction



Brown glass

Other glass

Hand-picking line

PET

HDPE

Process water

Fe-metals

Metal separation

NonFe-metals


Metal separation

Fine organics


Settling tank


water

Primary Refining

De-watered solids



Shredder

Gas engines

Heat and Power

Solid residues


KEY

Process water

Bulky items



Wet Digester


Landfilled


Upgrading

Bag Opener

AirSolids

Press

Press water

In-Hall composting

process


‘Compost’


Mixed Waste

Trommels

Hand-picking line


Air Separator

Hand-picking line

Paper & cardboard


landfill)


Light fraction



Brown glass

Other glass

Hand-picking line

PET

HDPE

Process water

Fe-metals

Metal separation

NonFe-metals


Metal separation

Fine organics


Settling tank


water

Primary Refining

De-watered solids



Shredder

Gas engines

Heat and Power





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Screen ‘overs ize’

D3.323 . The overs i ze f rac t i on i s manua l l y so r ted to recover recyc lab les such as paper , l i gh t

p las t i cs , and va r ious t ypes o f PET and HDPE p las t i c bo t t l es . Separa t ion sys tems fo r

PET and HDPE bo t t l es wou ld on ly be inc luded in the p rocess i f a marke t was

es tab l i shed . A f te r the manua l so r t i ng s tage, meta ls a re recovered us ing an

e lec t romagnet and an eddy cu r ren t separa to r and the remain ing mate r i a l s a re d i sposed

to l and f i l l . GRL ind ica ted tha t th i s f rac t i on , once sh redded , cou ld a l so be used as an

‘A l te rna t i ve Da i l y Cover ’ (ADC) f o r l and f i l l s ( see sec t ion on Outpu t Ma te r ia l s be low) .

D3 .324 . Documents p rov ided to us by GRL fo r th i s rev iew s ta te tha t the res idua l paper and l i gh t

p las t i cs f rac t i ons migh t be used as RDF, bu t w i l l be land f i l l ed i f a su i tab le RDF ou t le t

cannot be es tab l i shed . In response to ou r c la r i f i ca t i on ques t i ons regard ing th is

p roposed ou tpu t , t he company in fo rmed us tha t no RDF wi l l be p roduced a t Eas te rn

Creek “ . . . as the re i s no marke t p receden t fo r use o f RDF in Aus t ra l i a ” .

D3 .325 . GRL a lso in fo rmed us tha t p las t i cs recovered f rom the p rocess are be ing recyc led , wh i le

marke ts a re ‘under deve lopment ’ fo r the p las t i c f i lm. They s ta ted tha t HDPE and PET

a re be ing so ld under con t rac t to a company ca l l ed V isy .

Screen ‘unders ize’

D3.326 . The ‘unders i ze ’ f rac t i on wou ld be sc reened to recover me ta ls and then be passed

th rough a hand-p ick ing l i ne to recover va r ious t ypes o f g lass be fo re be ing sen t to the

ISKA perco la t i on vesse l (desc r ibed in the ISKA rev iew) . Th is hand-p i ck ing o f g lass

f ragments cou ld pose hea l th and sa fe ty cha l l enges to an opera to r .

Percolat ion and Digest ion

D3.327 . The was te i s con t inuous ly washed w i th wa te r under ae rob ic cond i t i ons a t a tempera tu re

o f approx imate ly 37 0 C . The wash ing process i s ca r r i ed ou t ove r a pe r iod o f abou t two

days (up to a max imum o f seven days ) and du r ing th i s pe r iod o f t ime o rgan ic ma te r i a ls

a re washed ou t o f the was te and t rans fe r red in to the l i qu id phase .

D3 .328 . The l i qu id f rom the pe rco la to r wou ld then pass v ia a sed imen ta t ion tank to the anaerob ic

d iges te rs . The hydrau l i c res idence t ime (HRT) in the d iges te r i s abou t 2 -3 days , wh ich

i s sa id to resu l t i n a b iogas p roduc t ion o f about 800 Nm 3 /h r ( c . 37 Nm 3 /Tonne o f m ixed

was te inpu t to the p rocess ) .

D3 .329 . The b iogas w i l l be sc rubbed to reduce the leve l o f H 2 S be fo re be ing used in on -s i te gas

eng ines to p roduce e lec t r i c i t y and hea t . A l though the da ta we have rev iewed f rom ISKA

sugges ts tha t s im i la r l eve ls o f b iogas have been ob ta ined in the i r demons t ra t ion t r i a l s ,

b iogas y ie ld da ta ove r a sus ta ined per iod o f opera t ion f rom the Sydney p lan t was no t

ava i l ab le a t the t ime o f wr i t i ng and the re fo re we canno t comment fu r the r on the

po ten t ia l re l i ab i l i t y o f th i s pa r t o f the GRL p rocess .





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D3.330 . The so l i ds f rom the pe rco la to r re fe r red to by GRL as ‘SNAP’ ( resu l tan t so l i d o rgan ic

subs t ra te ) w i l l pass to de-wa te r ing p resses . The so l i ds w i l l l eave th is opera t ion w i th

abou t 60% TS 1 con ten t .

Figure D87: One of the ISKA percolators at the Sydney plant

Sou r ce : GRL

D3.331 . The de -wa tered so l i ds pass th rough a p re -sc reen ing p lan t to remove ine r t s and

ove rs i zed mate r ia ls be fo re be ing sen t to the enc losed ha l l compos t i ng sys tem supp l ied

by SCT. I t i s p roposed tha t the ine r t s f rom the p re -sc reen ing p lan t wou ld be

inco rpo ra ted in to the s t ream des t ined fo r use as a l and f i l l da i l y cover (ADC) o r the

s t ream sen t fo r l and f i l l i ng ( see sec t ion on Outpu t Ma te r ia ls ) .

D3 .332 . P ress wa te r f rom the ‘SNAP’ de -wa te r ing s tage w i l l be recyc led to the pe rco la to r and

was tewate r f rom the anaerob ic d iges t ion s tage c leaned on-s i te i n a wa te r t rea tment

p lan t and recyc led as p rocess wa te r fo r pe rco la t i on and fo r the compos t ing p rocess .

D3 .333 . A i r f rom the compos t i ng ha l l w i l l be ex t rac ted v ia a vacuum sys tem and p iped to

b io f i l t e rs fo r c lean ing .

1 T S = t o t a l s o l i d s





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Compost ing

D3.334 . The in tens ive compos t i ng p rocess takes abou t 3 -4 weeks to comple te , w i th the

‘ compos t ’ be ing tu rned a number o f t imes by a fu l l y au tomated c rane-based tu rn ing

mach ine , du r ing wh ich t ime i t w i l l be ma in ta ined a t tempera tu res be tween 45 o C to 75 o C.

A f te r th i s 3 -4 week pe r iod , the mate r ia l w i l l be he ld fo r abou t 2 -3 mon ths on ‘ae ra ted

pads ’ to fac i l i t a te the matu ra t ion p rocess . The mater ia l s w i l l no t be tu rned du r ing the

matu ra t i on pe r iod . GRL to ld us tha t the matu ra t i on pa r t o f t he p rocess i s ou tdoors and

tha t they have pu t i n p lace sys tems to manage leachate and o the r l i qu id run -o f f f rom

th i s a rea o f the p lan t ( see sec t ion on Env i ronmenta l Impac t ) .

D3 .335 . A f te r ma tu ra t i on the mate r i a l w i l l be sc reened aga in to remove ‘ove rs i zed ’ pa r t i c les and

ine r ts be fo re be ing sen t fo r use as ‘ compos t ’ .

Figure D88: The SCT composting hall at Eastern Creek

Sou r ce : GRL

Process Performance

D3.336 . The mass ba lance fo r the GRL p rocess be ing commiss ioned in Sydney i s shown in

F igu re D89 . Based on th i s ba lance, the was te d i ve rs ion po ten t i a l has been ca lcu la ted

and summar ised in F igu re D90 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 .





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Figure D89: Indicative mass balance for the UR-3R process in Sydney, Australia

To landfill or ADC

to landfill

to landfill

Bulky items to landfill

Total quantity of residues to landfill (16.2%)

Compost or ‘OGM’

(20.7%)

Paper (7.2%)

Glass (2.6%)

NonFe-metals

(0.4%)

Fe-metals (2.9%)

Press water

Waste gases (incl. water vapour)

(58.3%)

Waste Feed (100%)

Biogas(4.9%)

Solid output or ‘SNAP’

Press

Percolation/Digestion Processes

Pre-treatment

Refining & Enclosed CompostingMaturation and Refining

Mixed plastics (5.8%)

PET & HDPE (1.0%)

Water(8.1%)

Air(11.9%)

To landfill or ADC

to landfill

to landfill

Bulky items to landfill

Total quantity of residues to landfill (16.2%)

Compost or ‘OGM’

(20.7%)

Paper (7.2%)

Glass (2.6%)

NonFe-metals

(0.4%)

Fe-metals (2.9%)

Press water


(58.3%)

Waste Feed (100%)

Biogas(4.9%)

Solid output or ‘SNAP’

Press

Percolation/Digestion Processes

Pre-treatment

Refining & Enclosed CompostingMaturation and Refining

Mixed plastics (5.8%)

PET & HDPE (1.0%)

Water(8.1%)

Air(11.9%)

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f GRL da ta

Figure D90: The diversion potential (by mass) of the GRL UR-3R process for Sydney Diversion Potential Minimum,

% Maximum, % Basis of Estimation

Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill

46.5 83.8 UMin: U All potential recyclables (excluding metals) to landfill (including compost)

UMax: U markets for all potential recyclable outputs (including compost)

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





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D3.337 . The b iodegradab le f rac t i on in the was te s t ream i s d iges ted in the AD p rocess as we l l as

i n i n tens ive compos t ing and long te rm matu ra t i on s tages . As a consequence , i t i s l i ke l y

tha t the degree o f b iodegrada t ion in th i s p rocess may resu l t i n a s ign i f i can t amoun t o f

BMW be ing d i ve r ted f rom land f i l l .

Energy Balance

D3.338 . Based on the ind ica t i ve b iogas y ie ld o f 4 .9% and a p ro jec ted methane conten t o f about

70% by vo lume, we have ca lcu la ted tha t the g ross the rmal energy ou tpu t f rom the UR-

3R p rocess w i l l be approx ima te l y 12 MW. Th is i s equ iva len t to 4 .8 MW e (c . 160

kWh e / tonne o r 28 ,800 MWh/year ) assuming convers ion in a gas eng ine w i th a 40%

e lec t r i ca l e f f i c iency .

D3 .339 . GRL s ta ted tha t the p rocess w i l l requ i re 14 ,000 MWh/year , wh ich imp l ies tha t up to 50%

o f the energy genera ted cou ld be ava i lab le fo r expor t .

Process F lexibi l i ty

Input Materials

D3.340 . The UR-3R p rocess i s des igned to t rea t m ixed MSW. I t i s a l so p roposed tha t the p lan t

w i l l p rocess abou t 5 ,000 Tpa o f ‘woody g reen was te ’ , wh ich i s used d i rec t l y i n the

compos t i ng p lan t as a ‘ s t ruc tu re ’ 1 ma te r i a l t o a id the compos t i ng p rocess .

D3 .341 . The ex tens ive was te p re - t rea tment tha t i s be ing inco rpora ted a t Sydney shou ld ensure

tha t mos t l y b iodegradab le o rgan ic compounds reach the perco la t i on s tage o f the

p rocess . Consequen t l y , t he va r iab i l i t y i n was te compos i t i on tha t i s l i ke l y to be

encoun te red in some coun t r i es i s l ess l i ke l y to pose s ign i f i can t cha l l enges to the

opera t ion o f th i s pa r t o f the MBT p rocess .

D3 .342 . No tw i ths tand ing the above , we no te tha t the UR-3R p rocess be ing imp lemented in

Sydney w i l l have a s ign i f i can t amoun t o f manua l so r t i ng . In some coun t r i es , i nc lud ing

the UK, th i s m igh t no t be regarded as economic ove r a 25 year was te management

con t rac t . There fo re , i n the UK, cons ide ra t ion w i l l have to be g i ven to the add i t i ona l

i nves tment cos t o f t he separa t ion mach ine ry tha t m igh t be needed and the po ten t ia l

cha l l enges to success fu l l y i n teg ra t ing such p rocesses w i th in the UR-3R p rocess .

Process Scale

D3.343 . The UR-3R p rocess be ing commiss ioned a t Eas te rn Creek i s des igned to p rocess 175 ,000 Tpa o f was te . A t l eas t 65% o f th i s i npu t w i l l pass th rough the pe rco la t i on p rocess ( i . e . c . 114 ,000 Tpa) . The pe rco la t i on sys tem compr ises fou r modu les , each o f

1 ‘ S t r uc t u r e ’ - wo o d y a nd o t he r f i b ro us ma t e r i a l s wh i c h a r e a d de d t o s o me c om p os t i ng p ro c es s es t o p r ov i d e a s t r uc t u r e t ha t f a c i l i t a t es g oo d ae ra t i o n o f t he was t e .





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a s im i la r capac i t y to the one opera ted a t ISKA ’s Buchen demons t ra to r p lan t . There a re fu tu re p lans to expand the Eas te rn Creek p lan t to accep t 260 ,000 Tpa w i th the add i t i on o f two fu r the r pe rco la to r vesse ls .

D3 .344 . A l though the pe rco la t i on modu le a t Buchen was des igned to hand le 30 ,000 Tpa , the p lan t p rocessed an average o f abou t 12 ,000 Tpa o f res idua l was te du r ing i t s th ree years o f opera t ion (see the ISKA rev iew) .

D3 .345 . The SCT ‘ i n -ha l l ’ compos t ing sys tem has opera ted in l a rge sca le MSW pro jec ts . We

the re fo re do no t expec t any subs tan t ia l sca l i ng i ssues w i th th i s pa r t o f the UR-3R

p rocess .

D3 .346 . GRD Minproc , who w i l l i n teg ra te the d i f f e ren t e lements o f the UR-3R p rocess , has

ex tens ive exper ience in the min ing and mine ra l recovery i ndus t r i es . However , t he

Eas te rn Creek p lan t w i l l be the i r f i r s t p ro jec t i n the mun ic ipa l was te management sec to r

and we a re aware f rom our exper ience tha t the cha l lenges in dea l ing w i th a

he te rogeneous feeds tock can lead to p ro longed tee th ing p rob lems fo r compan ies no t “au

fa i t ” w i th th i s app l i ca t i on .

Output Materials

D3.347 . F igu re D91 l i s t s the quan t i t i es o f p roduc ts tha t w i l l be p roduced in the 175 ,000 Tpa

p lan t t rea t ing m ixed MSW.

Figure D91: Products based on UR-3R plant processing 175,000 Tpa MSW and on Figure D89

Products Tpa Application

Biogas 8,575 utilised in gas engines after water and H2S removal

Ferrous metals 5,075 recycled

Non Ferrous metals 700 recycled

Paper 12,600 currently being recycled

PET & HDPE bottles 1,750 currently being recycled

Glass 4,550 market required

Mixed plastics 10,150 market required

‘Compost’ 36,225 market required

Residues 28,350 to landfill

Waste Gases 102,025 to bio-filters before discharge to atmosphere

Note: Water and air addition to the process total c. 35,000 Tpa


D3.348 . Biogas: A l though the b iogas y ie ld f rom the Sydney des ign i s p ro jec ted to be

43 .2 Nm 3 /Tonne o f MSW inpu t to the p lan t , no da ta on the ac tua l y i e ld was made

ava i lab le fo r th i s rev iew. Th is i s no t su rp r i s ing as the p lan t was on ly j us t beg inn ing

commiss ion ing a t the t ime o f p repar ing th is rev iew, bu t th is da ta w i l l be needed as soon





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as poss ib le to assess the pe r fo rmance o f the pe rco la t i on and anaerob ic d iges t ion

sys tems.

D3 .349 . In the ‘Env i ronmenta l Impac t S ta tement ’ p repared fo r the UR-3R fac i l i t y i t i s es t imated

tha t the H 2 S compos i t i on in the b iogas f rom the anaerob ic d iges te rs w i l l range f rom 200

to 2000 mg/kg . I t i s p roposed tha t the b iogas w i l l be sc rubbed be fo re be ing combus ted

in the gas eng ines us ing a p rop r ie ta ry EDTA 1 sys tem to reduce the l eve l o f H 2 S to be low

10ppm 2T t o mee t the requ i rements o f the eng ine supp l ie r . S teps a re p roposed to

m in imise the use o f t he a lka l i ne reagents and to re -use p rocess wa te r i n the make-up o f

the chemica l reagen ts .

D3 .350 . O ther than the p ro jec ted methane con ten t o f the b iogas o f 65 -73% (by vo lume) , no

fu r the r da ta on the compos i t i on o f b iogas f rom the p rocess was ava i l ab le a t the t ime o f

wr i t i ng . The leve ls o f o the r b iogas con taminan ts such as s i l oxanes 3, pa r t i cu la tes and

wa te r wou ld be des i rab le to assess whe ther these cou ld a f fec t the operab i l i t y o f the gas

eng ines .

D3 .351 . The p lan t i nco rpora tes two 1250 kW gas eng ines and gas - f i red wa te r hea te rs to u t i l i se

the b iogas genera ted in the p rocess . The hea t and par t o f the e lec t r i c i t y p roduced w i l l

be used w i th in the p rocess and the excess e lec t r i c i t y so ld to the loca l g r id .

D3 .352 . ‘Compost ’ (OGM): U GRL p lans to use th i s mate r i a l , wh ich they re fe r to as OGM (Organ ic Growth Med ia ) , i n a w ide range o f app l i ca t ions inc lud ing the supp ly o f the mate r ia l f o r ag r i cu l tu ra l and ga rden ing use and to app l i ca t ions fo r e ros ion cont ro l .

D3 .353 . A t p resent i n Aus t ra l i a , the vo lun ta ry re fe rence s tandard fo r compos t i s AS4454 (2003) , wh ich covers compos ts , so i l improvers and mu lches . The s tandard iden t i f i es a m in imum per iod o f matu ra t ion and s ta tes tha t the was te shou ld be pas teu r i sed fo r a t l eas t th ree days a t a min imum tempera tu re o f 55 o C . Spec i f i c l im i ts on the compos i t i on o f the b io -s tab i l i sed mate r ia ls a re g iven in the re fe rence s tandard cover ing heavy meta ls ; pa r t i c le s i ze ; o rgan ic con taminan ts ; phys ica l con taminat ion ; and contamina t ion f rom o the r e lemen ts i nc lud ing , n i t rogen , sod ium, phosphorous and bo ron .

D3 .354 . We a re aware tha t the re i s cu r ren t l y a deba te in Aus t ra l i a , as the re i s i n Europe , about the qua l i t y o f b io -s tab i l i sed mate r i a l s . The ou tcome o f th i s debate cou ld have an impac t on how par ts o f the UR-3R p rocess wou ld be opera ted because i f more s t r i ngen t measures a re pu t i n p lace fo r ‘ compos t ’ qua l i t y then th i s cou ld a f fec t the marke t ing o f the ‘ compos t ’ ou tpu t .

D3 .355 . A t the t ime o f wr i t i ng th i s rev iew, no da ta on the qua l i t y o f the b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t f rom the UR-3R p rocess was ava i l ab le , t hough GRL sa id tha t ‘ p re l im ina ry i nd ica t i ons f rom the commiss ion ing o f the compos t re f i n ing sec t ion us ing mate r i a l o r ig ina l l y p roposed fo r ADC i s tha t the re w i l l be no p rob lem meet ing the phys ica l con tamina t ion l im i ts i n the

1 EDT A = E t h y l e n e D i a m i ne Te t r a Ac e t i c ac i d ( a ch e mic a l f o r c o mp le x i n g m e t a l i ons ) 2 p p m = p a r t s pe r m i l l i on 3 S i l o xa n es : a s u b g r ou p o f c om p ou n ds c o n t a i n i n g S i -O w i t h o r ga n i c r ad i c a l s b on de d t o t h e s i l i c on , p r es en t i n t he b i og as . Th i s c on t a m i nan t c a n f o rm s i l i c on d i o x i de de p os i t s du r i ng t h e co m bus t i o n p r ocess , wh i c h ca n l e ad t o i nc re ase d en g i ne we a r .





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Aus t ra l i an compos t s tandard ’ . GRL a lso p rov ided ind ica t i ve concen t ra t i ons o f the heavy meta ls i n the OGM, wh ich they s ta te i s based on p rev ious tes t work and recen t commiss ion ing tes ts .

Figure D92: Indicative heavy metals concentration in the bio-stabilised output from UR-3R

Constituents Indicative concentration (mg/kg)

Australian Compost Standards (mg/kg)

UK PAS 100 Compost Standard (mg/kg)

Arsenic 10 20 NR

Cadmium 3 3 1.5

Chromium 100 400 100

Copper 200 200 200

Lead 150 200 200

Mercury 1 1 1

Molybdenum NR 4 NR

Nickel 50 60 50

Selenium NR 3 NR

Zinc 400 250 400

NR = Not Reported

Sou rce : GRL da ta and WRAP repo r t 1

D3.356 . A fu l l compos i t i ona l ana lys i s o f the OGM, samp led and ana lysed over a reasonab le pe r iod o f t ime when the p lan t i s fu l l y opera t iona l , i nd i ca t i ng the leve l o f con taminan ts i nc lud ing p las t i cs and t race heavy meta ls , w i l l be des i rab le to assess whe ther i t wou ld mee t marke t requ i rements i n the UK and Europe . A l so , i n a UK con tex t , i n fo rmat ion on the leve l o f b iodegrada t ion ach ieved wou ld be essen t ia l t o con f i rm the BMW d ive rs ion po ten t ia l o f the UR-3R sys tem.

D3 .357 . ADC (da i l y l andf i l l cover ) : We unders tand tha t i n Aus t ra l i a , the use o f th i s res idue

s t ream as land f i l l da i l y cove r wou ld coun t as recyc l i ng . However , i n the UK th i s me thod

o f usage wou ld no t a f fec t t he land f i l l d i ve rs ion ra tes o r the recyc l i ng pe r fo rmance o f the

p rocess as the ou tpu t wou ld be deemed to have been sent to l and f i l l .

D3 .358 . The ADC wou ld have to mee t the requ i rements o f the UK ABPR and mate r i a ls co l l ec ted

p re -b io log ica l s tab i l i sa t i on w i l l no t sa t i s f y th is c r i te r i a . There fore , t h i s res idue s t ream

wou ld be un l i ke l y to be used as land f i l l cove r i n the UK.

D3 .359 . GRL s ta ted tha t a l l res idua l s t reams sen t to l and f i l l cou ld be p rocessed to have an AT 4

resp i ra t i on ra te o f <10mg O 2 /g DM. No fu r the r da ta was p rov ided to con f i rm whe ther

th i s cou ld be ach ieved in the cu r ren t p rocess con f igu ra t ion .

D3 .360 . RDF: A l though in fo rmat ion we rece ived f rom GRL in p repar ing th i s rev iew ind ica ted tha t

the l i gh t paper and p las t i cs , recovered f rom the t rommel ‘ ove rs i ze ’ i n the mechan ica l

1 I n t r o d u c t i o n t o B S I P AS 10 0 , W RA P, 20 04





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pre -so r t i ng p rocess , m igh t be marke ted as an RDF, the company has now in fo rmed us

tha t RDF i s no t cu r ren t l y be ing p roduced a t the i r re fe rence p lan t i n Aus t ra l i a .

Environmental Impact

D3.361 . We were p rov ided w i th a document en t i t l ed ‘S ta tement o f Env i ronmenta l E f fec ts ’ by

GRL, wh ich was p repared to assess the env i ronmenta l impac t o f the UR-3R fac i l i t y a t

Eas te rn Creek . The document covers a l l p red ic ted re leases to a i r , wa te r and so i l f rom

the UR-3R fac i l i t y and a l so addresses the e f fec ts o f no ise po l l u t i on , veh icu la r

movements and v i sua l impac t re la t ing to the fac i l i t y . The document we rece ived

ind i ca te the comprehens iveness in wh ich the env i ronmenta l impac t o f the UR-3R fac i l i t y

has been assessed and GRL was one o f the on ly compan ies to make such de ta i l ed

env i ronmenta l assessment ava i l ab le fo r rev iew.

D3 .362 . Gas c lean ing: A l l was te gases f rom the p rocess and the fug i t i ve emiss ions f rom the p lan t w i l l be p iped to b io f i l t e rs be fo re be ing ven ted to the a tmosphere .

D3 .363 . GRL s ta ted tha t the exhaus t gases f rom the gas eng ines meet the l im i t s on n i t rogen

ox ides (NOx) , su lphur i c ac id mis t and /o r su lphur t r i ox ide and VOCs, spec i f i ed by the

NSW EPA wi thou t the need fo r fu r the r t rea tment . No da ta was prov ided by the company

to subs tan t ia te th i s . Aba tement o f the exhaus t gases may be necessary fo r

imp lemen t ing the UR-3R process in the UK in o rde r to sa t i s f y the s t r i c te r requ i rements

o f t he EU WID.

Figure D93: Emission limits for Australia (as applied to the UR-3R process) Pollutant Limit value

Nitrogen oxides 0.5 g/Nm3 (c. 360 mg/Nm P

3P corrected to 11% O2)*

Sulpuric acid mist and/or sulphur trioxide 0.1 g/Nm3

VOC destruction efficiency 98 %

N = Normal conditions: dry, 273 K. 101.3 kPa, 7% O2 * Juniper calculation

Sou r ce : ‘ S t a tement o f Env i ronmenta l E f fe c t s ’ r epo r t supp l i ed by GRL

D3.364 . Odours: An assessment o f odour emiss ions was ca r r i ed ou t based on the process o f f -

gases and the fug i t i ve emiss ions f rom the Buchen p lan t wh ich used b io f i l t e rs . I t was

s ta ted tha t the res idua l odour f rom the b io - f i l t e r w i l l be main ta ined a t < 50 OU 15 0 0 /m 3 .

D3 .365 . Wastew ater : The ‘S ta tement o f Env i ronmenta l E f fec ts ’ exp la ins tha t the p rocess w i l l be

a ne t wa te r use r . Based on the mass ba lance p rov ided by GRL, the 175 ,000 Tpa p lan t

w i l l requ i re abou t 14 ,000 Tpa (c . 14 mi l l i on l i t res per year ) o f f resh wa te r . I t was s ta ted

tha t , fo r Eas te rn Creek , th i s f resh wa te r need wou ld be p rov ided by co l l ec t i ng s to rm

wa te r a t the p lan t .

1 O U 5 0 0 – r e p r es en t s t he n umb e r o f t i mes an o do ro us a i r s am p le mus t be d i l u t e d be f o re t h e a ve r ag e p e rs o n ( 5 0 t h p e r c en t i l e ) c an ba re l y de tec t an o do u r i n t he d i l u t e d s am p le





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D3.366 . A wa te r management d iag ram inc luded in the ‘S ta tement o f Env i ronmenta l E f fec ts ’

repor t , p rov ided to us by GRL, shows tha t f resh wa te r w i l l be used ma in l y i n the

compos t i ng process and to humid i f y the b io - f i l te rs . The wa te r needs o f the pe rco la t i on

p rocess a re met by the re -use o f t rea ted was tewate r , f rom the d iges te rs , v ia an on -s i te

de -n i t r i f i ca t i on p lan t . Any excess t rea ted was tewate r i s s to red fo r reuse as p rocess

wa te r .

D3 .367 . In fo rmat ion supp l ied by GRL ind ica tes tha t any leacha te f rom the compos t i ng ha l l and

matu ra t i on areas w i l l be re -used in the compos t ing p rocess and tha t no wa te r i s

d i scharged f rom the p rocess fo r t rea tmen t .

D3 .368 . In the UK, the re -use o f wa te r w i th in the p rocess (as i s p roposed fo r the compos t ing

p lan t a t Eas te rn Creek ) w i l l have to comp ly w i th the UK ABPR p rocedures regard ing

c ross -con tamina t ion .

D3 .369 . L i ke many p rocess supp l ie rs i n the MBT sec to r , ne i the r GRL nor SCT have opera ted

p lan ts under th i s reg ime and th i s wou ld need to be addressed i f GRL p lans to bu i l d

s im i la r fac i l i t i es to tha t be ing commiss ioned in Aus t ra l i a . GRL sa id tha t the UK ABPR

requ i rements w i l l be met by hea t ing recyc led p rocess wa te r to 70 0 C fo r 1 hour be fo re i t

i s used in the compos t ing p rocess .

Footprint & Visual Impact

D3.370 . The fac i l i t y a t Eas te rn Creek occup ies a s i te o f approx ima te l y 5 .6 hec ta res (56 ,000 m 2 ) ,

wh ich t rans la tes in to a l and- take o f c . 0 .32 m 2 /Tpa fo r the 175 ,000 Tpa fac i l i t y . GRL

in fo rmed us tha t the p roposed inc rease in the p lan t capac i t y to 260 ,000 Tpa w i l l no t

i nc rease the land- take .

D3 .371 . The ta l l es t p rocess i t ems a re the anaerob ic d iges te rs , wh ich a re 14m in he igh t . The

pe rco la to rs a re 8m h igh and 20m in l eng th .

D3 .372 . The b iogas f la re 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 . Though GRL

in fo rmed us tha t the b iogas f l a re a t the Sydney fac i l i t y i s l ower than the d iges ters and i s

sc reened f rom ex te rna l v iew by the bu i ld ings , the impac t o f t h i s opera t ion w i l l have to

be assessed fo r imp lement ing the UR-3R p rocess in the UK.





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Figure D94: The two anaerobic digesters at the Sydney plant

Sou r ce : GRL

Costs

D3.373 . The cap i ta l cos t p rov ided by GRL fo r a ‘ s tandard ’ 200 ,000 Tpa UR-3R fac i l i t y ranges

f rom £35M to £45M. No in fo rmat ion was supp l ied concern ing opera t ing cos ts bu t hand-

p ick ing i s a l abour i n tens ive opera t ion . The company s ta ted tha t the ga te fee fo r such a

p lan t wou ld be in the range £40 - £60 /Tonne .

Outstanding Quest ions

D3.374 . A t the t ime o f p repar ing th i s rev iew we had no t rece ived c la r i f i ca t i on concern ing the

fo l l ow ing i ssues :

Mass and energy ba lances based on ac tua l opera t ing da ta ;

The qua l i t y o f the b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t f rom the UR-3R p rocess ;

The ex ten t o f b iodegradat ion o f the was te f rom inpu t to the b io -s tab i l i sed ‘ compos t ’ ou tpu t ;

The ac tua l b iogas y ie lds and b iogas compos i t i on ;





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Exhaus t gas emiss ions da ta fo r the b iogas eng ines ;

How the p rocess wou ld be conf igu red or mod i f i ed to sa t i s f y UK ABPR regu la t ions .

Summary

D3.375 . The UR-3R p rocess i s a fu l l y i n teg ra ted concept tha t cou ld genera te a number o f

d i f fe ren t ou tpu ts : b iogas fo r genera t ing e lec t r i c i t y and hea t ; a b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t ; RDF

and va r ious recyc lab les . Th is f l ex ib i l i t y cou ld b r ing some bene f i t s i n ta i l o r ing the

sys tem to su i t d i f f e ren t marke ts .

D3 .376 . GRL i s ac t i ve l y p romot ing the UR-3R concept i n Aus t ra l i a and the UK. Because no UR-

3R p lan ts ex i s t where the co re p rocesses have been in teg ra ted , no t even a t p i l o t sca le ,

and because the p rocess i s s t i l l be ing commiss ioned a t fu l l sca le , we wou ld regard the

concep t as unproven .

D3 .377 . The company does have re levan t techn ica l resources ava i l ab le to i t t h rough i t s s i s te r

company GRD Minproc . Th is eng ineer ing company has ex tens ive exper ience in the

m in ing and m inera l recovery indus t r ies and has ca r r ied ou t the p rocess des ign and

eng ineer ing work to i n tegra te the d i f f e ren t e lements o f the UR-3R p rocess . The Eas te rn

Creek p lan t i s the i r f i r s t p ro jec t i n the mun ic ipa l was te management sec to r .

D3 .378 . The c lose work ing re la t i onsh ip GRL appears to have w i th ISKA wi l l be c ruc ia l f o r the

deve lopment and success fu l opera t ion o f the Eas te rn Creek p ro jec t and the fu tu re UR-

3R fac i l i t i es , as the ISKA sys tem i s the co re e lement o f the MBT p rocess .

D3 .379 . The UR-3R p ro jec t i n Sydney has been we l l pub l i c i sed and a number o f UK Loca l

Au tho r i t i es and was te management compan ies have shown in te res t i n th i s MBT sys tem.

As a consequence, the fu l l ope ra t ion o f th i s p lan t i s keen ly an t i c ipa ted .

D3 .380 . The UR-3R p rocess has , i n the pas t , been p romoted as a ‘ zero -was te ’ concept . The

des ign fo r Sydney shows tha t a number o f e lemen ts have been inc luded to min imise the

c rea t ion o f res idue s t reams. Bu t , GRL seems to apprec ia te tha t the re cou ld be

s ign i f i can t cha l l enges in ach iev ing a ‘ ze ro -was te ’ s t ra tegy and have ind ica ted tha t some

mate r i a l s wou ld have to be land f i l l ed i f su i tab le ou t le ts canno t be iden t i f i ed . There a re

a l so re jec t s t reams f rom the pos t - re f in ing and matu ra t i on s tage shown in F igu re D86

and F igu re D89 and there fo re the process canno t be desc r ibed as a ‘ ze ro was te ’

p rocess .

D3 .381 . Un t i l t he Sydney p lan t has demons t ra ted cont inuous and t roub le - f ree opera t ion fo r a

pe r iod o f a t leas t 12 mon ths then techn ica l and commerc ia l r i sks w i l l remain .

This review was prepared in October 2004 from information provided by the company in summer 2004. A site visit to the

Eastern Creek plant in Sydney, Australia was not possible because the plant was not fully operational. The review was

finalised in January 2005, following further clarification discussions with the process company.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s G RO N TM I J



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GRONTMIJ


Grontmij promotes an MBT process which has at its core an anaerobic digestion system, which treats the wet organic fraction of the MSW input to produce biogas. The process also recovers various dry recyclables and produces an RDF.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plant




• commercial reference treating MSW

• operated at relatively large scale

• process is a net energy producer via biogas utilisation

• process requires a large water usage

• configuration at one key reference has required modifications by the operator

• complexity of the process

Contact details Grontmij Water and Waste Management, P.O. Box 14, NL-3730 AA De Bilt, The Netherlands.

Tel: +31 694 25 22 Fax: +31 695 63 66

www.grontmij.com

Key contact Thijs Oorthuys


B i oga s to e l ec t r i c i t y & hea t

D ry recy c l ab l e s RDF Fe & non Fe -meta l s

MSW

Anae rob ic d i ge s t i on

Wet p re - t r ea tment P re - s o r t ing





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Overview

D3.382 . Gron tm i j Wate r and Was te Management i s a 100% owned subs id ia ry o f the Gron tmi j

g roup , wh ich i s l i s ted on the Amsterdam S tock Exchange . I n 2003 , the company

repor ted a tu rnover o f €506M (c . £334M) . Gron tmi j i s i nvo lved in many aspec ts o f so l i d

was te management , was tewate r t rea tmen t , wa te r pur i f i ca t i on and cons t ruc t i on ; p r imar i l y

as consu l t i ng eng ineers . The company ’s roo ts go back to l and rec lamat ion , wh ich was

the main focus o f i t s bus iness f rom i t s i ncept ion in 1917 to the ear l y 1960 ’s .

D3 .383 . Gron tm i j opera tes a number o f d i v i s ions th roughou t Europe and has deve loped the

Vagron MBT p rocess fo r t rea t ing MSW, wh ich u t i l i ses we t anaerob ic d iges t ion as the

co re techno logy. The Vagron MBT p rocess has been ins ta l l ed a t two fac i l i t i es i n the

Ne ther lands ; Gron ingen and Heerenveen (see F igu re D95) .

D3 .384 . The Vagron process was based on the AD techno logy deve loped by C i tec i n F in land. To imp lement the AD techno logy in an MBT con f igura t ion , Gron tm i j deve loped a was te so r t i ng p rocess and the p re - t rea tmen t s tage fo r the organ ic f rac t i on to be sen t to the AD p lan t ( see F igu re D97) .

D3 .385 . C i tec ’ s AD sys tem was ca l l ed the ‘Waasa ’ p rocess , wh ich opera ted under th i s name a t a

15 ,000 Tpa p lan t tha t t rea ted MSW and b iowas te in Vaasa , F in land . We unders tand tha t

th i s p lan t was o r ig ina l l y bu i l t by Eco- techno logy o f F in land ( th i s company appears to

have ceased t rad ing ) who re fe r red to the i r i n i t i a l p rocess ins ta l l a t i on as ‘Wab io ’ . The

name changed to ‘Waasa ’ when C i tec ( fo rmer l y Avecon) took ove r the deve lopment o f

the Vaasa p lan t .

D3 .386 . The ‘Wab io ’ t echno logy was subsequen t l y marke ted by Deu tsche Babcock An lagen in

Germany bu t th i s company has subsequen t l y been th rough mergers and de -mergers .

D3 .387 . Because bo th techno log ies ( ‘Waasa ’ and ‘Wab io ’ ) opera ted a t the same p lan t and

because o f s im i la r i t i es be tween them, they a re somet imes e r roneous ly desc r ibed as the

same techno logy.

D3 .388 . Gron tm i j p rov ided bas ic i n fo rmat ion abou t the MBT p rocess imp lemented a t the

Gron ingen and Heerenveen p lan ts .

D3 .389 . Gron tm i j i n fo rmed us tha t s ign i f i can t changes have now been made to the C i tec d iges te r

des ign a t bo th re fe rence s i tes i n The Ne ther lands .

D3 .390 . We conduc ted a s i te v i s i t t o the Heerenveen p lan t , wh ich i s i n the F r ies land reg ion o f

The Ne the r lands . We were in fo rmed by the p lan t opera to r SB I Fr ies land (Sche id ings - en

Bewerk ings Ins ta l l a t i e ) tha t w i th in the pas t year they have made fu r the r s ign i f i can t

changes to the Vagron p rocess . I t i s apparen t tha t these changes have resu l ted in a

s ign i f i can t l y improved p lan t pe r fo rmance and tha t the p rocess i s now cons ide rab ly

d i f fe ren t f rom the o r ig ina l imp lemen ta t ion . SBI i s p romot ing th i s ex tens ive ly mod i f i ed

p rocess as the i r sys tem and , fo r th i s reason , we have rev iewed the SBI F r ies land





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imp lementa t ion separa te l y ( see the SBI rev iew) . We a re unc lea r who now owns the

In te l l ec tua l Proper ty R igh ts ( IPR) a l though we have been 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 ” .

Figure D95: Grontmij MBT references

Locat ion Capacity of the d igest ion plant

Tpa

Current Status

Startup Grontmij’s ownership of

reference plants

Groningen, The Netherlands 230,000 Operating 1999 50%

Heerenveen, The Netherlands 220,000 Operating 2002 25%

Sou rce : Jun ipe r ana l y s i s o f G ron tm i j s upp l ied i n fo rmat i on

D3.391 . Wh i le some o f the in fo rmat ion p resen ted in th i s rev iew i s s t i l l pe r t i nen t to the

Heerenveen p lan t (pa r t i cu la r l y the opera t ion o f the d ry p re -so r t i ng p rocess ) , t he bu lk o f

the mate r i a l i n th i s rev iew o f the Gron tm i j p rocess re la tes to the p lan t be ing opera ted a t

Gron ingen.

D3 .392 . We had w ished to i nc lude the Gron ingen p lan t i n ou r p rog ramme o f re fe rence

appra isa ls ; i t i s one o f the more s ign i f i can t fac i l i t i es w i th respec t to sca le i n Europe and

i t i s opera t ing in a coun t ry w i th ve ry s t r i ngen t env i ronmenta l s tandards . Un fo r tuna te l y

th i s d id no t p rove poss ib le . We have the re fo re p repared th i s rev iew on the bas is o f

i n fo rmat ion we have rece ived f rom the company as we l l as documents we were ab le to

ob ta in f rom o the r pub l i c doma in sources .


D3.393 . The Vagron p lan t a t Gron ingen was bu i l t as a j o in t ven tu re be tween Gron tmi j and Essen t

M i l i eu ( fo rmer l y VAM) w i th a 50% shareho ld ing by each company. Th is fac i l i t y s ta r ted

opera t ing in 1987 , bu t a t t ha t t ime the was te was on ly separa ted mechan ica l l y , w i th the

RDF be ing sen t fo r i nc ine ra t ion un t i l 1996 . The in teg ra ted MBT fac i l i t y a t Gron ingen

commenced opera t ion in 1999 .

The Process

Pre-t reatment

D3.394 . The incoming res idua l MSW s t ream i s t rans fe r red by ove rhead c ranes f rom the recep t ion

bunker to the feed bunker . The was te f rom the feed bunker i s passed to a d rum sc reen ,

wh ich has a sc reen s i ze o f 180mm and con ta ins f i xed ‘ kn i ves ’ a t i t s f ron t end to a id the





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open ing o f was te bags . The unders i zed mate r ia ls a re passed to the second d rum

sc reen , wh ich has a ‘ s i ze cu t ’ o f 50mm.

FigureD96: The 230,000 Tpa Vagron plant in Groningen

S ou r ce : G ron tm i j web s i te (www.g ron tm i j . com)

D3.395 . The ove rs i ze f rac t i on f rom each d rum sc reen i s sen t th rough separa te a i r c lass i f i e rs to

remove l i gh t p las t i cs and paper , then th rough eddy cu r ren t separa to rs and

e lec t romagnets to recover me ta ls . The two s t reams a re then jo ined and sen t fo r use as

RDF. The RDF i s repor ted to have a ca lo r i f i c va lue o f 12 -14 MJ /kg .

D3 .396 . S ince 1996 the RDF has been inc ine ra ted . The co l l ec ted l i gh t p las t i cs and paper

f rac t i on a re a l so be ing used as secondary fue l i n cement k i l ns i n Germany and CHP

p lan ts i n Scand inav ia (see sec t ion on Outpu ts ) .

Materials sent to the AD plant

D3.397 . The we t p re - t rea tment p lan t hand les the f rac t ion o f was te <50mm. Th is unders i ze

f rac t i on f rom the d rum sc reens passes to e lec t romagne t i c and eddy cu r ren t separa to rs

to recover fe r rous and nonfe r rous meta ls respec t i ve l y . The rema in ing mate r ia ls a re

washed in a spec ia l l y des igned vesse l (ca l l ed an ‘ i ne r t separa to r ’ ) t o wh ich wa te r i s

i n t roduced f rom the bo t tom in an up f low con f igu ra t ion . The l i gh te r ma te r ia l s a re

en t ra ined in the wa te r ex i t i ng the top o f the vesse l and pumped to a we t d rum sc reen ,

wh ich separa tes the f i ne sand and g lass f rom the b iodegradab le mate r ia l s . The denser

ma te r i a l s f rom the ine r t separa to r a re washed to remove contamina t ion be fo re be ing

sen t to s to rage .





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Figure D97: Grontmij MBT process (as operated at the Groningen plant)

Metal Recovery

Inert Separator

> 180 mmTrommel 1

Trommel 2

< 180mm > 50 mm

< 50mm

Fe metals Non-Fe metals

Process water

Coarse inerts

Sieve DrumShredder

MixerHot water from the CHP plant

Anaerobic Digester

Wet Organic Fraction

Gas Engine

Cleaned biogas

Heat & Power

Exhaust gases

CycloneTo RDF stream

KEY EnergyRecyclables Further

Upgrading Emissions Residue Stream

Digestate

Dewatering

Residue

MSW

Coarse materials

Drum Screen

Washer

Water

Sand

SeparatorDewatering

Screen

Fine materialsTo digestion

plant

To water treatment plant

Air Separator

Air Separator

Metals Separator

Metals Separator

Plastics & paper

Fe & Non-Fe metals

RDF

Hard plastics

Metal Recovery

Inert Separator

> 180 mmTrommel 1

Trommel 2

< 180mm > 50 mm

< 50mm

Fe metals Non-Fe metals

Process water

Coarse inerts

Sieve DrumShredder

MixerHot water from the CHP plant

Anaerobic Digester

Wet Organic Fraction

Gas Engine

Cleaned biogas

Heat & Power

Exhaust gases

CycloneTo RDF stream

KEY EnergyRecyclables Further

Upgrading Emissions Residue Stream

Digestate

Dewatering

Residue

MSW

Coarse materials

Drum Screen

Washer

Water

Sand

SeparatorDewatering

Screen

Fine materialsTo digestion

plant

To water treatment plant

Air Separator

Air Separator

Metals Separator

Metals Separator

Plastics & paper

Fe & Non-Fe metals

RDF

Hard plastics

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r i n te rp re ta t ion o f G ron tm i j ’ s i n fo rmat i on





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D3.398 . The b iodegradab le mate r ia l s co l l ec ted on the s ieve d rum a re sen t to a shredder and

then to a second sc reen ing s tep , wh ich removes coarse pa r t i c les such as ha rd p las t i cs .

The co l l ec ted p las t i cs a re added to the RDF s t ream. The b iodegradab le mate r i a l , w i th a

d ry so l i ds con ten t o f about 30 -40%, i s mechan ica l l y m ixed w i th recyc led wa te r f rom the

dewate r ing o f the d iges ta te , heated to abou t 80 0 C , and pumped to the d iges te rs . The

m ix tu re i s a l so hea ted by s team to ach ieve a tempera tu re o f about 57 0 C . Th is f rac t i on i s

re fe r red to as the Wet Organ ic F rac t ion (WOF) and has a d ry so l i ds conten t o f abou t 10 -

15%.

D3 .399 . The f i ne mate r ia ls tha t pass th rough the s ieve d rum a re fu r the r separa ted in a

hyd roc yc lone. The suspens ion and dense mate r i a l s f rom the bo t tom o f the hyd rocyc lone

a re sen t to a separa to r wh ich removes the sand . The sand i s then sen t to s to rage,

wh i le the rema in ing suspens ion passes th rough a dewate r ing s tage to recover f i ne

o rgan ics . These a re m ixed w i th the s t ream f rom the top o f the hydrocyc lone fo r

d iges t ion . The rema in ing l i qu ids a re sen t to an on -s i te was tewa te r t rea tment p lan t f rom

wh ich some wa te r i s re tu rned to the p rocess .

Anaerobic Digest ion

D3.400 . The AD p rocess on ly t rea ts the WOF. A l though the o r ig ina l C i tec techno logy has

opera ted in bo th mesoph i l i c and the rmoph i l i c modes , the Vagron p lan t i n Gron ingen

opera tes thermoph i l i ca l l y . C i tec d iges te rs were subd iv ided i n te rna l l y to c rea te a p re -

d iges t ion o r hyd ro l ys i s chamber , bu t we were in fo rmed separa te l y by Gron tm i j and SBI

tha t th i s pa r t o f t he vesse l has been removed a t bo th Gron ingen and Heerenveen

because o f p rob lems encoun te red w i th tha t des ign du r ing opera t ion .

D3 .401 . The average So l ids Res idence T ime (SRT) i n the d iges te r i s abou t 21 days . M ix ing in

the d iges te r i s ca r r ied ou t by mechan ica l s t i r re rs and the re i s p rov is ion fo r the in jec t ion

o f compressed b iogas a t the base o f the reac to r , t hough th i s i s no t cu r ren t l y used .

D3 .402 . The d iges ta te i s m ixed w i th a po ly -e lec t ro l y te be fo re be ing dewate red us ing be l t p resses

to abou t 38% ds 1. The dewate red d iges ta te was in i t i a l l y sen t to l and f i l l , bu t we were

in fo rmed by Gron tm i j t ha t th i s ma te r ia l i s now mixed in an ‘ immob i l i sa t ion ’ p rocess and

sen t fo r use as land f i l l cove r (see sec t ion on Ou tpu ts ) .

D3 .403 . The l i qu id f rom the dewate r ing p ress i s hea ted and recyc led to the mix ing s tage be fo re

the d iges te rs

Process Performance

D3.404 . The mass ba lance fo r Gron tm i j ’ s p lan t a t Gron ingen i s shown in F igu re D98. 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

1 d s = d r y s o l i ds





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F igu re D98 (a long w i th the re levan t assumpt ions tha t have been made in the ca l cu la t ions ) .

Figure D98: Mass balance for the Groningen plant

Biogas (5 %)

Coarse Inerts (8 %)

Metals ( 3%)

RDF (c. 42%)

Water + Steam

Digestate (10%)

WOF to AD plant (28%)

Sand (4 %)

Oversized Fractions (57%)

Waste Feed (100 wt%)

Fine Fraction(40%)

Anaerobic Digestion Plant

Treatment of fine fraction of MSW feed

Pre-treatment

Paper + Plastics (15 %)

Air Separation

Excess Water (13%)

Water

Biogas (5 %)

Coarse Inerts (8 %)

Metals ( 3%)

RDF (c. 42%)

Water + Steam

Digestate (10%)

WOF to AD plant (28%)

Sand (4 %)

Oversized Fractions (57%)

Waste Feed (100 wt%)

Fine Fraction(40%)

Anaerobic Digestion Plant

Treatment of fine fraction of MSW feed

Pre-treatment

Paper + Plastics (15 %)

Air Separation

Excess Water (13%)

Water

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ’ s ana l y s i s o f G ron tm i j ’ s da ta

D3.405 . The d i ve rs ion da ta in F igu re D99 ind ica tes tha t a s ign i f i can t amoun t o f ma te r i a l i s

cu r ren t l y be ing d i ve r ted f rom land f i l l by t rea t ing was te in the Gron ingen p lan t . A

re la t i ve l y h igh d i ve rs ion ra te (88%) i s ob ta ined i f t he RDF i s used as fue l and i f t he

d iges ta te can be used as land f i l l f i na l cove r . 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 and hence we cou ld no t de te rmine

the BMW per fo rmance o f the Vagron p rocess be ing opera ted a t Gron ingen.

Figure D99: Diversion potential (by mass) based on the process operated at Groningen

Divers ion Potent ia l Minimum, %

Maximum, %

Bas is of Estimation


21 88 Min: Inert streams and digestate landfilled. RDF and light plastics & paper also landfilled.

Max: Inert streams 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.






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Energy Balance

F igure 100 : Energy ba lance fo r the p rocess opera ted a t Gron ingen

Steam Usage 9200 GJ/a

(c. 4 kWh/T)

Hot Water15400 GJ/a(c. 7 kWh/t)

Export to Grid

39100 GJ/a

(c. 19 kWh/T)Grontmij’s MBT System

Parasitic Loads 17400 GJ/a(c. 8 kWh/T)

Potential Energy recovery if RDF used as Fuel*(c. 1.5 MWh/T RDF)

Denotes MBT process operated at Vagron

* based on an RDF mean CV of 14MJ/kg Note. Data shown in blue are electrical energy equivalent per tonne of input to the processEfficiency of thermal to electrical energy assumed to be 40%.

Not used + losses80300 GJ/a

(c. 39 kWh/T)

Energy available from biogas 161400 GJ/a(c. 78 kWh/T)

Steam Usage 9200 GJ/a

(c. 4 kWh/T)

Hot Water15400 GJ/a(c. 7 kWh/t)

Export to Grid

39100 GJ/a

(c. 19 kWh/T)Grontmij’s MBT System

Parasitic Loads 17400 GJ/a(c. 8 kWh/T)

Potential Energy recovery if RDF used as Fuel*(c. 1.5 MWh/T RDF)

Denotes MBT process operated at Vagron

* based on an RDF mean CV of 14MJ/kg Note. Data shown in blue are electrical energy equivalent per tonne of input to the processEfficiency of thermal to electrical energy assumed to be 40%.

Not used + losses80300 GJ/a

(c. 39 kWh/T)

Energy available from biogas 161400 GJ/a(c. 78 kWh/T)

Sou rce : Vag ron web s i te (www.vag ron .n l /h tm l/uk/massa .h tm)

D3.406 . The pe r fo rmance o f the Gron ingen p lan t fo r 25 weeks a f te r s ta r tup in 1999 i s summar ised in F igu re D101 . I t shows tha t the p lan t cons is ten t l y p roduced be tween 0 .2 -0 .3 Nm 3 CH 4 /kg VS 1. The y ie ld o f methane unders tandab ly does no t d i rec t l y fo l l ow the vo la t i l e so l i ds l oad ing because o f the lag be tween feed ing o f the WOF to the d iges te r and b iogas produc t i on .

D3 .407 . Wh i le F igu re D101 shows per fo rmance da ta ob ta ined over a reasonab le amoun t o f t ime, the AD par t o f the p rocess a t Gron ingen i s known to have exper ienced downt ime . In fo rmat ion in the i r annua l repor t o f 2002 on the company ’s webs i te s ta tes : “… at the beg inn ing o f Augus t a mechan ica l de fec t was de tec ted in the s t i r r i ng mechan ism o f the fe rmen ta t ion un i t a t t he Vagron was te p rocess ing p lan t . As a resu l t , Vagron ’s revenue fo r 2002 was lower than expec ted , wh ich had a d i rec t e f fec t o f EUR 3 .0 mi l l i on on Gron tmi j ’s ne t opera t ing pro f i t . I n consu l ta t i on w i th ex te rna l spec ia l i s ts and our pa r tne r ,

1 VS = vo l a t i l e s o l i ds





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Essen t M i l i eu , a f i rm improvement p lan was ag reed a t the end o f 2002 tha t w i l l be imp lemen ted in 2003” .

Figure D101: AD plant performance after startup at Groningen

Source: Luning et al: ‘Realisation, start-up and initial operational experiences of Vagron’s MBP plant in Groningen, NL’ 8th Int. Waste Management & Landfill Symposium, Oct, 2001.

Plant Avai labi l i ty

D3.408 . Da ta on the ac tua l opera t ing hours and was te p rocessed fo r the Gron ingen p lan t was

no t made ava i lab le fo r th i s rev iew. The opera t iona l re l i ab i l i t y o f the Heerenveen p lan t i s

d i scussed in the SBI p rocess rev iew.


Input Materials

D3.409 . The p rocess has so fa r been opera ted on res idua l MSW ( the res idua l s t ream a f te r the

separa te co l l ec t i on o f b iowas te and the source separa t ion o f paper and g lass ) . Gron tm i j

i n fo rmed Jun ipe r tha t va r i ous co -d iges t ion t r i a l s were ca r r i ed ou t a t the Gron ingen p lan t

to co -p rocess o the r o rgan ic was te a longs ide MSW, bu t tha t to da te these op t ions a re no t

ye t commerc ia l l y v iab le i n The Ne ther lands . No in fo rmat ion on the techn ica l resu l ts o f

t hese t r i a l s , o r de ta i l s o f t he t ypes and amoun ts o f was te co -d iges ted , was made

ava i lab le fo r th i s rev iew.





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Output Materials

D3.410 . F igu re D102 l i s t s the quant i t i es o f ou tpu ts tha t can be ob ta ined f rom the Vagron p rocess

as opera ted a t Gron ingen.

D3 .411 . Biogas: The b iogas y ie ld was repor ted to be abou t 100 m 3 /Tonne o f i npu t to the

d iges te r ( c . 90 Nm 3 /Tonne) . 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 and heat v ia gas eng ines .

Figure D102: Outputs from the process at Groningen


Biogas 11,500 utilised in gas engines in CHP configuration

Ferrous & Non- ferrous metals 6,900 recycled

Coarse inerts 18,400 may be recycled but may have to be landfilled

Fine inerts 9,200 may be recycled but may have to be landfilled

RDF 96,600 sent for incineration

Paper & light plastics 34,500 used as a co-fuel in cement kilns and CHP plants

Digestate 23,000 sent to landfill

Wastewater 29,900 treated and discharged

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r ca l cu l a t ion f r om da ta supp l i ed by G ron tm i j

D3.412 . The hea t i s recovered f rom the exhaus t gases and i s be ing used to hea t the f i l t ra te f rom

the dewate r ing o f the d iges ta te , p r io r to recyc l i ng i t as p rocess wa te r . Some o f the hea t

recovered i s a l so u t i l i sed to genera te s team fo r use w i th in the p rocess .

D3 .413 . The b iogas i s passed th rough a condenser to remove wa te r , and then th rough va r ious

aba tement s tages to reduce the leve ls o f o the r con taminan ts , be fo re i t i s combus ted in

the gas eng ines .

D3 .414 . H 2 S i s con t ro l l ed i n a nove l way by add ing s ludges f rom d r ink ing wa te r p repara t ion

d i rec t l y to the d iges te rs . These s ludges a re repor ted to con ta in s ign i f i can t amoun ts o f

i r on hyd rox ide , wh ich removes H 2 S by p rec ip i ta t i on . The H 2 S leve ls i n the b iogas a re

repor ted to have been lowered f rom 2000 - 4000 ppm 1 t o <75ppm us ing th i s me thod o f

t rea tmen t .

D3 .415 . Aba tement fo r s i l oxanes (con taminants in the b iogas than can fo rm s i l i con d iox ide

depos i ts wh ich can lead to i nc reased eng ine wear ) i s a l so p rov ided . The b iogas c lean ing

1 p p m = p a r t s pe r m i l l i on





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process u t i l i ses a comb ina t ion o f condensa t i on and ac t i va ted ca rbon ‘ f i l t r a t i on ’ t o aba te

th i s con taminan t to <1ppm.

D3 .416 . RDF : We were in fo rmed tha t the RDF i s be ing u t i l i sed as a secondary fue l i n Germany

and Scand inav ia . No de ta i l s were made ava i l ab le abou t the spec i f i c p rocesses in wh ich

the RDF i s be ing u t i l i sed o r whe the r the re a re fue l compos i t i on c r i t e r ia tha t have to be

met . Whi le the recovered paper and p las t i c f rac t i on cou ld a lso be used as a fue l (GCV 1

= 20MJ/kg ) , we a re unc lea r o f the cu r ren t management rou te fo r th i s ou tpu t f rom the

p rocess a t Gron ingen .

D3 .417 . I t a l so appears tha t some RDF i s sen t fo r i nc ine ra t ion a f te r the remova l o f p las t i cs and

paper to reduce i t s CV to a l eve l ( c . 9 and 11 .5 MJ /kg ) tha t i s su i tab le fo r i nc ine ra t ion

(see RDF CV in F igu re D103) . However , we have no t rece ived any fu r the r i n fo rmat ion

to con f i rm th i s .

D3 .418 . Gron tm i j has pub l i shed some data wh ich g ives the b road compos i t i on o f the RDF f rom

the Vagron process be fo re p las t i cs , paper and meta ls a re removed . However , we were

no t ab le to ob ta in a fu l l compos i t i ona l ana lys i s o f the RDF ou tpu t f rom the p lan t a t

Gron ingen and a re the re fo re unab le to assess the qua l i t y o f t h i s ma te r i a l aga ins t marke t

requ i rements .

Figure D103: Average composition of RDF before paper/plastics separation

Component % (by mass)

Organics 10-15

Paper/Card 20-25

Plastics 15-20

Glass/Coarse Inerts c. 5

Metals < 1

Other combustible 30

Other non-combustible 5

Gross Calorific Value (MJ/kg) 12-14

Sou r ce : Oo r thuy s e t a l ‘Mechan i ca l t r ea tmen t o f was te a s the hea r t o f a f l e x i b l e was te management s y s tem’ , I SWA, Oc tobe r 2000 .

D3.419 . Digesta te : Gron tmi j i n fo rmed us tha t the d iges ta te i s ‘ immob i l i sed ’ and sent to l and f i l l .

No de ta i l s were p rov ided abou t the ‘ immob i l i sa t i on ’ sys tem a t Gron ingen o r whe ther the

mate r i a l s were be ing used as da i l y o r pe rmanent l and f i l l cove r . However , de ta i l s o f t he

‘ immobi l i sa t i on ’ sys tem be ing used a t Heerenveen were p rov ided by SBI and a re

desc r ibed in the SBI p rocess rev iew.

1 G C V = G r o s s C a l o r i f i c Va l ue (e ne rg y c on t en t )





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D3.420 . In the UK, use o f the d iges ta te as da i l y l and f i l l cover wou ld no t coun t as recyc l i ng , wh i le

l and f i l l pe rmanen t cove r w i l l coun t (p rov ided tha t in bo th cases the mate r ia l sa t i s f i es the

UK APBR c r i te r ia ) . A t p resen t the d iges ta te ou tpu t f rom Gron ingen wou ld no t mee t UK

ABPR requ i remen ts because the requ i red p rocess cond i t ions in the d iges te r a re no t

su i tab le and p rocess wa te r rec i rcu la t i on w i l l a l so have to be in accordance w i th the

ABPR. We have no t been ab le to de term ine f rom the Proponents o f the techno logy how

the p rocess con f igu ra t ion cou ld be adap ted fo r imp lementa t ion in the UK.


D3.421 . Gas c lean ing: A l l was te gases f rom the p rocess and the p lan t a re cap tu red and p iped

to a b io f i l t e r . The company c la ims tha t th is min imises any r i sk o f b io -ae roso l , dus t and

odorous emiss ions .

D3 .422 . Wastew ater : Much o f the was tewate r genera ted w i th in the p rocess i s re -used . Some

opera t ions requ i re c leaned p rocess wa te r and a d isso lved a i r f l o ta t i on un i t i s used a t

the Gron ingen p lan t to c lean the was tewate r fo r re -use in such p rocesses . Wh i le a

s ign i f i can t quan t i t y o f wa te r i s s t i l l d i scharged f rom the p rocess we have been unab le to

ob ta in da ta concern ing the qua l i t y o f th i s wa te r d i scharge .

D3 .423 . Footpr in t & V isua l Impact We have been unab le to ob ta in th i s da ta f rom the opera to rs

o f the Gron ingen fac i l i t y . However , f rom our s i te v i s i t to Heerenveen we assume tha t the

ta l l es t e lements i n the p lan t a re l i ke l y to be the d iges te rs , wh ich a re abou t 25m in

he igh t .

Costs

D3.424 . Data was no t made ava i l ab le fo r th i s rev iew.


D3.425 . The fo l l ow ing ques t ions s t i l l r emain unanswered abou t the Gron ingen re fe rence p lan t :

The na tu re o f the p rocess fo r ‘ immobi l i s ing ’ the d iges ta te ;

How the d iges ta te i s cu r ren t l y be ing u t i l i sed ;

A fu l l u l t imate ana lys i s o f the RDF to de te rmine the leve l o f con taminan ts i n th i s ou tpu t ;

Deta i l s o f the end use ou t le ts where the RDF i s cu r ren t l y be ing u t i l i sed , the o f f -take a r rangements and the end-use cus tomer spec i f i ca t i ons the mate r i a l mus t mee t ;

I nves tmen t and opera t ing cos ts fo r the p lan t a t Gron ingen;

Plant foo tp r in t .





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Summary

D3.426 . The Vagron p rocess , des igned by Gron tm i j has opera ted a t two re la t i ve l y l a rge sca le

MBT p lan ts i n The Ne ther lands fo r a s ign i f i can t amoun t o f t ime . The p lan ts i l l us t ra te a

pa r t i cu la r t ype o f MBT in wh ich the p rocess i s con f igu red to p roduce a va r ie ty o f

p roduc ts and recyc lab le s t reams. In th i s con tex t i t i s un fo r tuna te tha t we were no t

p rov ided w i th more in fo rmat ion abou t the Gron ingen re fe rence p lan ts to a l l ow a more

comple te assessment o f th i s po ten t ia l l y i n te res t ing p rocess . The reader i s a l so re fe r red

to the SBI rev iew.

This review was first prepared in September 2004 based on information in the public domain and some basic information

provided by Grontmij. After sending our draft review to Grontmij, the company provided more information about the

Groningen plant, but we were unable secure an invitation to visit the plant. Based on the additional information provided by

Grontmij, the review was redrafted in November 2004. The review was finalised in December 2004, following further

clarification discussions with Grontmij.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s HA A SE A n l ag en ba u



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HAASE Anlagenbau


Haase provides various standardised process equipment, including a wet anaerobic digestion process and gas engines, for which they have supplied their AD technology. Their first MBT reference plant, designed to treat MSW, is under construction; it will produce biogas and a bio-stabilised output.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plant


First MBT reference, designed to treat MSW, using the company’s digestion technology was under construction in Spain at the time of writing this review. Haase recently informed us that this plant is now being commissioned.



• experience with AD for bio-wastes

• the core biological supply (the wet AD system) has not yet been proven on a commercial basis with an MSW feedstock

• have not yet supplied a complete integrated MBT plant designed to treat MSW

Contact details Haase Energietechnik GmbH, Gadelander Strasse 172, D-24531 Neumünster, Germany

Tel: + 49 432 187 80 Fax: +49 432 187 829

Web: www.haase-energietechnik.de

Key contact Dr Roland Kahn

Director of the Gas Department


M e c h a n i c a l

P r e - t r e a t m e n t

T w o - s t a g e

w e t A D

C o m p o s t i n g

D r y r e c y c l a b l e s B i o g a s t o e l e c t r i c i t y a n d h e a t

B i o - s t a b i l i s e d o u t p u t

MSW





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Overview

D3.427 . Haase i s a g roup o f th ree separa te compan ies : Haase Energ ie techn ik AG; Haase

An lagenbau AG; and Haase Energ ie techn ik Be te i l i gungsgese l l scha f t mbH ( the

admin is t ra t i ve company in the g roup) . Haase Energ ie techn ik GmbH was fo rmed in 1981

as a p r i va te ly owned German company and in 2002 , became a pub l i c l im i ted company -

Haase Energ ie techn ik AG.

D3 .428 . Haase Energ ie techn ik AG supp l ies componen ts fo r Anaerob ic D iges t ion (AD) p lan ts such

as f l a re s tacks and CHP un i ts . Haase An lagenbau AG was es tab l i shed in 2001 and th is

d i v i s ion o f Haase i s respons ib le fo r the cons t ruc t ion o f AD p ro jec ts , i nc lud ing the AD

componen t o f MBT.

D3 .429 . We were in fo rmed by Haase tha t they w i l l de l i ve r tu rnkey MBT p ro jec ts i n the UK in

coopera t ion w i th C la rke Energy – a UK company ac t i ve l y i nvo lved in u t i l i s i ng renewab le

gas resources (and who are the agen ts fo r Jenbacher gas eng ines ) .

D3 .430 . Or ig ina l l y founded in 1961 as Haase Bau GmbH, Haase was in i t i a l l y known fo r

manu fac tu r i ng s i l os and s to rage tanks and, i n the ea r l y 1980 ’s , fo r p roduc ing hea t

pumps . They a re now we l l known wor ldwide fo r supp ly ing equ ipment fo r manag ing and

p rocess ing land f i l l gas and leachate . Haase ’s l i te ra tu re shows tha t they have a number

o f opera t ing re fe rence s i tes . So fa r , app l i ca t ions have been l im i ted main l y to b io -

was tes , bu t p lan ts des igned to p rocess MSW are in commiss ion ing o r under

cons t ruc t i on . Th is i s summar ised in F igu re D104.

D3 .431 . We were in fo rmed by Haase tha t the re fe rence s i te a t Nen tze ls rode a lso t rea ts mate r i a l s

tha t ‘ con ta in a ce r ta in pe rcen tage o f res idua l was te ’ . Because the re i s a mechan ica l

e lement a t th i s p lan t , Haase c lass i f i es i t as MBT. They however , d id no t p rov ide any

fu r the r de ta i l s abou t the quan t i t y o f b iowas te and res idua l was te be ing t rea ted a t

Nen tze ls rode o r de ta i l s abou t the p rocess des ign .

D3 .432 . Haase has supp l ied the fo l l ow ing componen ts to o ther compan ies ’ MBT fac i l i t i es :

Two-s tage we t anaerob ic d iges te rs ;

Biogas f l a res ;

Biogas d rye rs ;

Biogas compressors ;

Gas eng ines ; and ,

Regenera t i ve Thermal Ox id i se r (RTO) sys tem ca l l ed , ‘Vocs iBox ’ , fo r t rea t ing o f f -gases .

D3 .433 . The company has recen t l y been se lec ted th rough a compet i t i ve tender as the genera l

con t rac to r fo r an MBT p lan t be ing cons t ruc ted in Lübeck , Germany. Th is MBT p lan t w i l l

i nco rpo ra te a mechan ica l p re - t rea tmen t p rocess supp l ied by a th i rd pa r t y . Haase i s a l so





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par t o f a g roup o f compan ies se lec ted to be genera l con t rac to rs fo r an MBT fac i l i t y

p lanned fo r Lauchhammer , Germany.

Figure D104: Haase key reference projects

Extent of Supply

Locat ion

Pla

nt

ca

pa

city

,

Tp

a

Inp

ut

to H

aa

se

dig

est

er,

Tp

a

Ty

pe

of

wa

ste

tr

ea

ted

Cu

rre

nt

sta

tus

An

ae

rob

ic

dig

est

ers

Ga

s e

ng

ine

s o

r C

HP

fa

cil

ity

Off

-ga

s tr

ea

tme

nt

Wa

ste

wa

ter

tre

atm

en

t

Sta

rt-u

p

Groeden, Germany 110,000 110,000 Manure and biowaste

1995/1996

Nentzelsrode, Germany

17,000 NS Biowaste & residual waste

1998

Schwanebeck, Germany

49,000 49,000 Biowaste, manure

1998

Münster, Germany * 83,000 NA Residual MSW

2002

Léon, Spain * 200,000 50,000 Mixed MSW being commissioned

Lübeck, Germany * 150,000 NS Residual MSW

Summer 2005

Lauchhammer, Germany *

50,000 NS Residual MSW

November 2005

The colour coding system denotes plants currently operating ( ) and plants that are under construction, under commissioning or in planning ( ). * denotes MBT plants treating MSW NA – Not Applicable NS- Not Supplied

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r r ep re sen tat ion o f Haa se ’ s i n fo rmat ion

D3.434 . A number o f MBT fac i l i t i es supp l ied by o the r compan ies (no t shown in F igu re D104) use

gas equ ipment supp l ied by Haase .

The Process

D3.435 . Haase ’s co re b io log ica l p rocess ing techno logy i s we t anaerob ic d iges t ion . The p rocess be ing imp lemented a t MBT fac i l i t i es i s ca r r i ed ou t i n two-s tages : hyd ro l ys i s fo l l owed by methanogenes is , i n two separa te reac tors ca l l ed ‘B ios tab i l a to rs ’ . The d iges t ion p rocess i s con t ro l l ed under mesoph i l i c cond i t i ons and takes be tween 10 to 21 days to comple te .

D3 .436 . A t Haase ’s f i r s t MSW re fe rence a t Léon , Spa in , wh ich we v i s i ted , the was te inpu t

(unsor ted MSW) to the p lan t i s p rocessed us ing pre - t rea tmen t equ ipment supp l ied by

Hors tmann (see the Hors tmann p rocess rev iew) . The p re - t rea tment l i ne cons is ts o f

t rommel sc reens , magne t i c separa to rs and hand-p ick ing l i nes , wh ich recovers va r ious

d ry rec yc lab les . The f i ne o rgan ic f rac t i on f rom th i s pa r t o f the p rocess i s sen t to

Hors tmann compos t ing tunne ls and to a mix ing s tage wh ich feeds the Haase d iges t ion

p lan t .





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D3.437 . I t i s env isaged tha t a t t he mix ing s tage , f l oa t i ng mate r i a ls and o the r suspended

subs tances wou ld be removed f rom the inpu t to the d iges te rs . Th is pa r t o f t he p rocess

a t Léon appears to be unusua l l y s imp le . Because ‘ f l oa t ing laye rs ’ can o f ten c rea te a

bo t t l e -neck in we t d iges t ion p rocesses – a fac t we have d i scussed in some de ta i l i n

o the r p rocess rev iews (A r rowB io , BTA, L inde and SBI ) – the success o f th i s f i r s t Haase

MSW re fe rence w i l l be a c r i t i ca l s tep in demons t ra t i ng the pe r fo rmance o f the d iges t ion

techno logy w i th MSW in an MBT conf igu ra t ion .

Figure D105: MBT process design (based on the reference facility at Léon, Spain)

Digestate

MSW

KEY Further Upgrading

Emissions Residue Stream

Mechanical pre-treatment & picking lines

Pulper

Residues (floating) materials

Water

‘Biostabilator system’

Dewatering

Biogas for use in gas engines

Recyclables

Fermentation residues to Horstmann’s composting

tunnels

Wastewater to treatment

Process water

Rejects

To Horstmann tunnels

Recyclables

Digestate

MSW

KEY Further Upgrading


Mechanical pre-treatment & picking lines

Pulper

Residues (floating) materials

Water

‘Biostabilator system’

Dewatering

Biogas for use in gas engines

Recyclables

Fermentation residues to Horstmann’s composting

tunnels

Wastewater to treatment

Process water

Rejects

To Horstmann tunnels

Recyclables

Sou r ce : Jun ipe r r ep re sen tat ion o f Haa se ’ s i n fo rmat ion

D3.438 . When we v i s i ted the Léon fac i l i t y i n Sep tember 2004 we were in fo rmed tha t i t was abou t

to commence i t s commiss ion ing phase . However , a l though the Haase we t d iges t ion

supp ly appeared to have been fu l l y comp le ted , the cons t ruc t i on o f some o f the p rocess

e lements such as the mix ing sys tem (wh ich supp l ies the d iges te rs w i th was te ) and the

was tewate r t rea tment p lan t , were no t f i n i shed. I t i s un l i ke l y the re fo re tha t the

in teg ra ted process cou ld be commiss ioned un t i l a l l p rocess e lements had been

comple ted . We were recen t l y i n fo rmed by Haase tha t commiss ion ing o f the Léon p lan t

i s underway.





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D3.439 . No da ta on the operab i l i t y , re l i ab i l i t y o r pe r fo rmance o f Haase ’s co re b io log ica l p rocess

supp ly was ava i l ab le .

Figure D106:The Haase digestion plant at Léon, Spain

Sou rce : Haa se


D3.440 . A number o f ou ts tand ing ques t ions rema in abou t the Haase o f fe r i ng , many o f wh ich

cou ld be answered when da ta f rom the company ’s f i r s t MBT re fe rence p lan t t rea t ing

MSW is ava i lab le . These i nc lude :

Fu l l mass and energy ba lances ;

The ac tua l quan t i t y o f was te i npu t to the d iges t ion p lan t and the cont inuous opera t iona l hours (ava i l ab i l i t y ) ove r a su f f i c ien t pe r iod o f t ime (12 mon ths ) ;

Biogas y ie ld ove r a su i tab le pe r iod o f t ime (12 mon ths ) ;

The qua l i t y o f t he ‘d iges ta te ’ ou tpu t , i nc lud ing the con tamina t ion leve ls and the degree o f b io -s tab i l i sa t i on ach ieved;

The land f i l l d i ve rs ion po ten t ia l o f the p rocess ;

Measurements o f con taminan t l eve ls i n the gaseous and l i qu id emiss ions f rom the p rocess ;

The land- take requ i red ;

Est ima ted opera t ing and cap i ta l cos ts .





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Summary

D3.441. Haase i s an es tab l i shed name wi th in the gas eng ineer ing f i e ld because o f the i r

ac t i v i t i es i n supp ly ing equ ipment to l and f i l l ope ra to rs – pa r t i cu la r l y fo r the u t i l i sa t i on o f

l and f i l l gas and the t rea tment o f l eacha te . The company i s a pub l i c l y - t raded

eng ineer ing f i rm p rov id ing se rv i ces and techno log ies in gas eng ineer ing , was te and

wa te r t rea tmen t and land f i l l eng ineer ing . They t yp i ca l l y pe r fo rm the EPC cont rac t i ng fo r

p ro jec ts i n the was tewa te r and was te management sec to rs .

D3.442 . The i r i nvo lvement w i th MBT i s a re la t i ve l y recen t deve lopment and to da te they have

on ly supp l i ed co re componen ts to a few MBT p lan ts supp l ied by o the rs . Haase ’s f i r s t

MBT re fe rence p lan t des igned to t rea t MSW ( fo r wh ich they have on ly supp l ied the i r

d iges t ion techno logy) i s cu r ren t l y be ing commiss ioned and no da ta i s ava i l ab le abou t

the pe r fo rmance o f th i s sys tem.

D3 .443 . The company was recen t l y success fu l i n a compet i t i ve tender as genera l con t rac to rs fo r

a 150 ,000 Tpa MBT p lan t i n Lübeck , Germany and the success fu l comp le t ion o f th i s

p ro jec t (p lanned fo r summer 2005) w i l l be an impor tan t s tep in es tab l i sh ing Haase ’s

c redent ia l s as a supp l ie r o f comple te MBT sys tems .

This review was prepared in December 2004 from information provided by the company in February, 2004 and from what we

observed during a visit, facilitated by Horstmann, to the Léon reference plant on the 10th September 2004, which was still

under construction at the time. Despite requests for further information to determine the company’s expertise with the

various components they supply, including the digestion technology and gas engines, no additional information was provided

at the time of writing. Haase provided some clarification information in January 2005 to help finalise this review.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s H E RHO F



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HERHOF


Herhof Environmental has been marketing an MBT process which utilises aerobic drying as the core biological technology to treat MSW. The bio-drying process drives off moisture from the waste by using its biological activity. The ‘dried’ output is passed through a number of screening stages to produce an SRF.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plants




• a number of commercial MBT plants treating MSW

• technology actively promoted in the UK. The company has recently been named as the preferred bidder in a competitive tender exercise in the UK and has also been shortlisted for another UK MBT project

• output is not fully bio-stabilised, which could cause an issue if the SRF has to be stored/landfilled

• market nervousness about viability of outlets for SRF

Contact details

Herhof Environmental Limited, The Warehouse, Barrow Street, Grand Canal Docks, Dublin 4, Ireland

Tel: +353 1 618 9366 Fax: +353 1 618 8389

www.herhofenvironmental.com

Key contact

Avril Banks

Development Manager, Herhof Environmental (UK) Ltd.

Email:[email protected]

S R F

F e & n o n F e - m e t a l s

M S W B i o - d r y i n g

p r o c e s s

S c r e e n i n g & R e f i n i n g S h r e d d i n g





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Overview

D3.444 . Herho f Env i ronmenta l L im i ted i s owned by the I r i sh -based inves tmen t company T reasury

Ho ld ings . I t was o r ig ina l l y fo rmed as a j o in t ven tu re be tween E-Co – The Was te

Company, a subs id ia ry o f T reasury Ho ld ings , and the German deve lopers o f the Herho f

b io -d ry ing and compos t i ng techno log ies , Herhof Umwe l t techn ik GmbH, to deve lop and

opera te the b io -d ry ing p rocess in E i re and the UK.

D3 .445 . In Oc tober 2003 , T reasury Ho ld ings acqu i red the German Herho f g roup , i nc lud ing i t s

po r t fo l i o o f techno logy pa ten ts , p ro jec ts and l i censes , and a re now the so le owners o f

Herho f Env i ronmenta l . T reasury Ho ld ings have repor ted the i r asse ts to be in excess o f

€1 .6 b i l l i on .

D3 .446 . Ladurner Umwe l t techn ik i s l i censed to marke t the Herho f techno logy in I t a l y and o the r

p ro jec t pa r tne rs i nc lude: MTM Ho ld ing B .V . i n Be lg ium and the Ne the r lands ; GAT GmbH

in Aus t r i a and S IA ISA in Spa in .


D3.447 . Herho f Umwe l t techn ik has been ac t i ve in the compos t ing and was te management

bus iness s ince 1986 and deve loped the i r MBT p rocess in 1995 . The f i rs t commerc ia l

p lan t us ing th i s p rocess s ta r ted opera t ions in 1997 in Aß la r , Germany. S ince then , the

company has cons t ruc ted a number o f o the r re fe rence p lan ts i n Germany and I ta l y , and

more recen t l y , i n Be lg ium (see F igu re D107) . There a re fou r p lan ts fu l l y opera t ing , one

in the commiss ion ing s tage and a fu r the r fou r p lan ts a t the cons t ruc t i on or p lann ing

s tage . The techno logy can the re fo re be regarded as p roven in opera t ion a t commerc ia l

sca le .

D3.448 . Herho f i s one o f the few compan ies tha t have exp lo red mul t i p le usage op t i ons fo r the i r

SRF ou tpu t , i nc lud ing energy recovery i n was te combus t ion p rocesses and foss i l f ue l

subs t i t u t i on in cement k i l ns and coa l f i r ed power p lan ts . The company has been

opera t ing a sma l l combus t i on p lan t near Aß la r , where about 30 ,000 Tpa o f S tab i l a t 1 i s

conver ted in to energy . Th is fac i l i t y was pu rpose-bu i l t by Herho f .

D3 .449 . As pa r t o f t h i s s tudy, Jun ipe r v i s i t ed the Herho f re fe rence p lan ts i n Rennerod , Germany

and in Ven ice , I ta l y . Members o f the Jun ipe r team have a lso v i s i t ed the Dresden MBT

p lan t i n 2002. These s i te appra isa ls a re summar i sed be low.

D3 .450 . Herho f a l so have the i r own compos t ing techno logy ( f rom wh ich the b io -d ry ing p rocess

was deve loped) wh ich has been imp lemented a t 44 re fe rence p lan ts i n a t l eas t 6

1 S t a b i l a t : T r a de m ark us ed b y He r ho f f o r t he i r S R F . T h i s o u t p u t f r o m He r ho f ’ s b i o - d r y i n g p r ocess has a l s o b e en r e fe r r ed t o as T rock en s ta b i l a t - f r om t he G e r m an f o r ‘ d r y s t ab i l a t ’ an d t he M B T p roc ess i t se l f i s s om e t im es k nown as t he ‘S tab i l a t p r oc ess ’ .





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d i f fe ren t coun t r i es to t rea t b iowas te , s ludge and MSW. As th i s techno logy i s no t be ing

marke ted in an in teg ra ted MBT con f igura t ion , i t i s no t d i scussed fu r the r i n th i s rev iew.

Figure D107: Herhof’s reference facilities Location Capacity (Tpa) Type of waste treated Startup

Aßlar (Giessen), Germany 120,000 Residual MSW 1997

Rennerod, Germany 85,000 Residual MSW, commercial* waste 2000

Venice, Italy 150,000 Residual MSW 2001

Dresden, Germany 85,000 Residual MSW 2001

Osnabrück, Germany 85,000 Residual MSW 2004, commissioning

will start in January 2005

Mertesdorf, (Trier), Germany 180,000 Residual MSW 2005

Osthessen, Fulda, Germany 220,000 Residual MSW 2005/2006

Geel, Belgium 180,000 Residual MSW 2004,

started commissioning

Oberes Elbtal, Germany 100,000 Residual MSW 2006

* pallets, small amounts of cardboard, occasional food waste

Source: Juniper’s representation of Herhof’s information

D3.451 . Rennerod S i te V is i t : We v i s i ted th i s p lan t i n Apr i l 2004 . A t the t ime o f ou r v i s i t t he p lan t was fu l l y opera t iona l and was rece iv ing was te fo r t rea tmen t . The p lan t i s a fu l l y i n teg ra ted MBT p lan t and appears to be we l l eng ineered .

D3 .452 . The p rocess i s fu l l y au tomated and accep ts abou t 85 ,000 Tpa res idua l MSW, wh ich i s

f i rs t sh redded be fo re i t i s t rea ted in seven conc re te b io -d ry ing vesse ls (a l so ca l l ed ‘b io -

boxes ’ ) . We were in fo rmed dur ing ou r v i s i t tha t the was te i npu t to the Rennerod p lan t

has been sub jec t to more source -segrega t ion than a t the Dresden fac i l i t y and the re fo re

i t i s l ess cha l l eng ing to p rocess than tha t rece ived a t Dresden .

D3 .453 . The b io -d r ied mate r ia ls a re so r ted v ia a number o f dens imet r i c separa t ion s tages and a

meta ls recovery s tage , to p roduce SRF: th i s sequence (b io -process ing fo l l owed by

mechan ica l separa t ion ) i s why th i s t ype o f sys tem i s somet imes re fe r red to as BMT –

B io log ica l Mechan ica l T rea tmen t – ra ther than MBT, as d iscussed in Annexe A .

D3 .454 . Dur ing ou r v i s i t we were in fo rmed tha t a p ropor t i on o f the SRF had been used a t SVZ 1.

Herho f s ta ted tha t the SRF f rom th i s fac i l i t y i s now be ing used in va r i ous power p lan ts

and cement k i l ns i n Germany, wh ich were no t named fo r reasons o f commerc ia l

con f iden t i a l i t y .

1 SVZ = Sekundärrohstoff-Verwertungszentrum Schwarze Pumpe (a large waste processing facility in Germany utilising gasification)





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D3.455 . The Rennerod p lan t a lso inco rpora tes Herho f ’ s pa ten ted regenera t i ve the rma l o f f -gas

combus t i on sys tem, known as LARA 1 to mee t the requ i rements o f the German 30 t h

B ImSchV (see sec t i on on Env i ronmenta l Impac t ) . The regenera t i ve the rmal ox id i se r

(RTO) a t Rennerod i s des igned to p rocess a l l a i r t ha t has come in to contac t w i th ac t i ve

we t was te . The a i r f rom the dens imet r i c separa t ion s tages i s c leaned us ing a fab r i c f i l t e r

and re -used in the p rocess . The dus t f rom the fab r i c f i l te r i s pe l le t i sed and inco rpora ted

in to the SRF.

Figure D108: The Rennerod plant

Stack for the RTOStack for the RTO

Source: Photograph taken by Juniper during site visit

Figure D109: Herhof bio-drying boxes at Rennerod

Opened composting boxClosed composting box

Opened composting boxClosed composting box


D3.456 . Overa l l t he housekeep ing a t th i s fac i l i t y was good , bu t we observed tha t some was te

was be ing depos i ted on the covers o f the b io -d ry ing boxes . Th is was a l so the case a t

1 L A R A i s a H e rh o f t r ad e ma rk f o r t h e i r Reg ene r a t i ve T h e r ma l O x i d i s e r ( RTO ) . L A RA i s f r o m t h e G e r ma n L u f t -Au f b e r e i t un gs -u n d Re in i g u ngs - An l a g e





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t he Ven ice fac i l i t y bu t , wh i le the p lan t was c leaned da i l y i n the Rennerod p lan t , t he

bu i l d -up on the boxes in Ven ice sugges ted tha t l ess f requent c lean ing was be ing

conduc ted . Wh i le th i s aspec t o f t he p rocess opera t ion g i ves a negat i ve pe rcept ion o f the

qua l i t y o f housekeep ing , the b io -d ry ing boxes were i so la ted f rom the res t o f the p lan t

and a l l p rocess a i r and fug i t i ve emiss ions were be ing t rea ted by the RTO be fo re ven t ing

to a tmosphere . As a resu l t we d id no t de tec t s ign i f i can t odorous emiss ions f rom the

p rocess a t e i the r Rennerod o r Ven ice .

D3 .457 . Venice S i te V is i t : The Fus ina -Ven ice was te recyc l i ng p lan t i s l oca ted in the indus t r i a l

d i s t r i c t o f Ven ice , some d i s tance away f rom popu la ted a reas . Un ique ly , t he p lan t has

bo th road and wa te rway access and u t i l i ses bo th rou tes to de l i ver was te to the p lan t .

Figure D110: Herhof’s MBT reference plant in Venice

RTO with exhaust stackRTO with exhaust stack


D3.458 . We v i s i ted th i s p lan t i n December 2004 and were shown a round the p lan t by Idecom, the

commun ica t ions company tha t fac i l i t a tes such p lan t v i s i t s on beha l f o f Ves ta , the p lan t

opera to rs . As a resu l t we were unab le to d i scuss techn ica l quer ies re la t i ng to the p lan t

w i th the opera to r .

D3 .459 . When we v i s i ted the p lan t , t he p rocess was fu l l y opera t iona l and seemed to be

con t ro l l ed by on ly a few personne l . The p lan t i s we l l eng ineered and p rocesses 145 ,000

Tpa o f res idua l MSW. The p rocess u t i l i ses 12 b io -d ry ing boxes .





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D3.460 . The fac i l i t y occup ies a subs tan t ia l f oo tp r in t , bu t i t a l so i nc ludes an inc ine ra t ion p lan t

(50 ,000 Tpa) , wh ich takes unsegregated was te f rom the cen t re o f Ven ice and a Herho f

compos t i ng p lan t (45 ,000 Tpa) tha t p rocesses separa te l y co l l ec ted g reen was te .

D3 .461 . Dur ing ou r v i s i t we observed tha t the green was te and the bu lky was te f rac t i on f rom the

source segrega t ion schemes were s to red in the open . As a resu l t , t he bu lky was te

s to rage a rea was a t t rac t i ng a l a rge number o f seagu l l s . A l though th i s pa r t o f the p lan t i s

no t assoc ia ted w i th the Herho f MBT ins ta l l a t i on , the impress ion o f a poor l y managed

p lan t was ga ined. S im i la r poor house-keep ing was observed a t the ad jacent ‘ g reen’

was te compos t i ng p lan t , where matu red ‘ compos t ’ f rac t i ons and the la rge pa r t i c les

separa ted f rom the ‘ compos t ’ i n the re f i n ing s tage were s to red ou ts ide . Th is l a t te r

f rac t i on i s used as one o f the inpu ts to the MBT p rocess .

D3 .462 . A po r t i on o f the SRF p roduced a t Ven ice i s be ing used fo r t r i a l s i n the nearby coa l - f i red

power p lan t owned by ENEL. We were a l so in fo rmed tha t a po r t i on o f SRF i s be ing sen t

to cement k i l ns and an RDF combus to r , t hough no de ta i l s were p rov ided . The rema inder

i s be ing sent to l and f i l l .

D3 .463 . Dresden Si te V is i t : Jun ipe r v i s i ted the Dresden p lan t i n ea r l y 2002 , wh i le conduc t i ng an

ea r l i e r rev iew o f the Herho f MBT p rocess .

D3 .464 . The Dresden p lan t i s l oca ted on the edge o f an indus t r i a l es ta te , on the d i sused pa r t o f

a l and f i l l s i t e , and i s the mos t recen t commerc ia l l y opera t iona l Herho f re fe rence p lan t

( the p lan t i n Gee l , Be lg ium i s i n i t s commiss ion ing phase and the one a t Osnabrück ,

Germany i s abou t to s ta r t commiss ion ing ) . Because Herho f has cont inued to op t im ise

the des ign o f the p rocess , the re a re d i f fe rences be tween the Dresden and Rennerod

p lan ts . A t Dresden some o f the ou tpu t i s pe l l e t i sed a f te r an add i t i ona l re f i n ing s tage to

improve the marke tab i l i t y o f the SRF.

D3 .465 . L i ke bo th the Ven ice and Rennerod p lan ts , the p rocess a t Dresden i s fu l l y au tomated

and requ i res no opera to r i n te rven t i on in no rmal c i r cumstances . The fac i l i t y ex i s t s to

take manua l con t ro l o f t he c rane opera t ion i f necessary . The Dresden p lan t i s opera ted

24 hours pe r day, Monday to F r iday . There a re th ree sh i f t s and a to ta l o f f ou r teen s ta f f .

The p lan t i s unmanned a t weekends when no was te de l i ve r ies a re rece ived; however ,

t he b io -d rye rs con t inue to opera te under au tomat i c con t ro l .

D3 .466 . There a re n ine b io -d ry ing boxes a t Dresden, each ho ld ing approx imate l y 600 m 3 (280

tonnes) o f was te ( the amoun t rece ived in one day) . There was no ind ica t i on o f

unacceptab le env i ronmenta l impac ts f rom t ra f f i c , no ise o r odour a t the Dresden p lan t .

A l though no bu i l d -up o f was te on the b io -d ry ing boxes was observed a t th i s p lan t , a

s ign i f i can t quan t i t y o f dus t was ev iden t i n the a i r above the boxes , wh ich has to be

managed by the a i r c lean ing sys tem.

D3 .467 . A t Dresden the v i sua l impac t o f the mu l t i -s to rey , s tee l -c lad indus t r i a l bu i l d ings i s

so f tened by the con tou rs o f the s i te and the p resence o f t rees . The land- take i s

approx imate ly 0 .07 m 2 pe r Tpa o f capac i t y , wh ich i s l ess than fo r convent iona l

compos t i ng w i th fu l l ma tu ra t i on .





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The Process

Figure D111: Herhof bio-drying process based on plant at Dresden

Residual MSW

KEY Recyclables Further Upgrading

EmissionsResidue Stream

Bio- Drying

Off gases to RTO

Densimetric separation

Light fraction

Densimetric separator

Non Fe metals

Eddy separator

Magnetic separator

SRF

Fe-metals

Condensate to treatment

<200 mm

Shredder rejects

Heavy fraction

Fe-metals

Non Fe-metals

Pelletiser

Combustible materials

Inerts

Eddy current separator

Magnetic SeparatorShredding

Residual MSW


EmissionsResidue Stream

Bio- Drying

Off gases to RTO

Densimetric separation

Light fraction

Densimetric separator

Non Fe metals

Eddy separator

Magnetic separator

SRF

Fe-metals

Condensate to treatment

<200 mm

Shredder rejects

Heavy fraction

Fe-metals

Non Fe-metals

Pelletiser

Combustible materials

Inerts


Magnetic SeparatorShredding

Source: Juniper representation of Herhof’s information

Waste recept ion

D3.468 . The fo l l ow ing p rocess desc r ip t i on i s based on the p lan t be ing opera ted a t Dresden ,

wh ich i s the mos t modern o f the p lan ts we v i s i t ed .

D3 .469 . Re fuse t rucks d i scharge the i r l oad v ia a chute to a deep bunker , f rom where the was te

i s l oaded to one o f the two sh redders us ing an au tomated g rab c rane. The sh redd ing

opera t ion reduces the pa r t i c le s i ze to l ess than 200 mm. The sh redded was te i s

t rans fe r red to a bu f fe r bunker a f te r i n i t i a l separa t ion o f fe r rous meta ls .

Biological dry ing

D3.470 . A second p rocess c rane takes mate r ia l f rom the bu f fe r bunker to l oad wh ichever b io -

d rye r ( somet imes re fe r red to as Herhof -Ro t teboxes) i s ready fo r re f i l l i ng . The f i l l i ng

opera t ion i s au tomated . The same c rane i s used to remove and rep lace the b io -d rye r l i d

and to un load the b io -d r ied mate r i a l .

D3 .471 . The was te rema ins in the b io -d ry ing boxes fo r seven days ( f i ve days a t the Ven ice p lan t )

under ae rob ic cond i t i ons , bu t no wa te r i s added to the was te so tha t fu l l compos t i ng o f

the was te does no t take p lace . I t i s reduced in mass by abou t 30% dur ing b io -d ry ing .





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D3.472 . The a i r f l ow i s i n t roduced th rough a f l oo r p la te and i s au tomat i ca l l y ad jus ted f rom on-l i ne ca rbon d iox ide and tempera tu re measurements . The tempera tu re in the box r i ses to abou t 50 o C in the f i rs t ha l f day and i s he ld be tween f i ve and ten days ( t yp i ca l l y seven) depend ing on ind i v idua l p lan t op t im isa t ion . Mos t o f the a i r i s rec i r cu la ted , a f te r coo l ing in a heat exchange sys tem, un t i l t he ca rbon d iox ide leve ls r i se above a ce r ta in l im i t va lue , a t wh ich po in t some a i r i s b led to the RTO. Th is con f igu ra t ion lowers the vo lumes o f o f f -gases tha t need to be t rea ted and the re fo re reduces the opera t iona l cos t o f t he RTO sys tem. The opera t ion o f the RTO i s d i scussed in more de ta i l i n the sec t ion on ‘Env i ronmenta l Impac t ’ . A t Dresden the condensa te fo rmed in the heat exchangers i s d i scharged to the pub l i c sewer . The p rocess can a lso be con f igu red to c lean the condensate in a 2 -s tage b io log ica l and f i l t ra t i on sys tem and re -use the wa te r as coo l i ng wa te r fo r the p rocess o f f -gases (as i s the p rac t i ce a t the i r o the r re fe rence p lan ts ) . I n th i s con f igu ra t ion , no was tewate r i s p roduced .

SRF Product ion

D3.473 . The b io -d r ied mate r i a l s a re conveyed to a re f i n ing s tage where ine r ts and o the r heavy con taminan ts a re removed. The equ ipment i n th i s sec t ion i s to ta l l y enc losed as can be seen in F igu re D112 .

D3 .474 . There a re two s tages o f dens ime t r i c separa t ion ; the f i rs t t o separa te the heavy and l i gh t f rac t i ons and the second to recover combus t ib le mate r ia l f rom the heavy f rac t i on . A f te r each dens imet r i c s tage , fe r rous and nonfe r rous meta ls a re recovered .

Figure D112: Densimetric equipment installed at Rennerod


D3.475 . The compos i t i on o f the SRF ou tpu t i s d i scussed in more de ta i l i n the sec t ion on ‘Process Ou tpu ts ’ be low.

D3 .476 . The a i r f rom the separa t ion p lan t passes to a bag f i l t e r be fo re i t i s re -used in the p lan t . The dus t co l l ec ted by the bag f i l t e rs i s pe l l e t i sed and m ixed w i th the SRF.





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Process Performance

D3.477 . Typ ica l i npu ts and ou tpu ts fo r Herho f ’ s b io -d ry ing p rocess a re shown in F igu re D113 . 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 D114 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 D113: Typical inputs and outputs for Herhof’s bio-drying process

Inerts (c. 15 %)

Non Fe- metals (c. 1 %)

Fe- metals (c. 4 %)

SRF (c. 50%)

Off-gases (incl. water vapour)

(c. 30 %)

Residual waste (100%) Bio-drying Screening & Separation



Condensate to treatment (NR)

NR = Not reported

Inerts (c. 15 %)

Non Fe- metals (c. 1 %)

Fe- metals (c. 4 %)

SRF (c. 50%)

Off-gases (incl. water vapour)

(c. 30 %)

Residual waste (100%) Bio-drying Screening & Separation



Condensate to treatment (NR)

NR = Not reported

Source: Juniper analysis of Herhof’s data

Figure D114: Landfill diversion potential (by mass) of the Herhof ‘bio-drying’ process

Diversion Potential Minimum, % Maximum, % Basis of Estimation


c. 35 c.85 Min: SRF to landfill, inerts to landfill

Max: SRF is used for energy recovery, inerts to landfill

Notes: This is total mass diversion not BMW diversion under UK diversion targets. No data is available on the biodegradability of the process streams.

Although in theory the inert fraction could be recycled as, for example, a low grade aggregate, we have based our calculation on this output being sent to landfill.

Source: Juniper analysis

D3.478 . On ly a sma l l amoun t o f the b iodegradab le conten t o f the inpu t was te i s reduced in the b io -d ry ing p rocess ( l ess than w i th a l te rna t i ve compos t i ng p rocesses o r w i th p rocesses tha t seek to fu l l y b io -s tab i l i se the was te ) . Th is i s no t an i ssue when the SRF i s u t i l i sed as a fue l , bu t wou ld be i f the SRF had to be land f i l l ed .

Energy Balance

D3.479 . No energy ba lance in fo rmat ion was p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew.





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Process avai labi l i ty

D3.480 . Based on the qua l i t y o f eng ineer ing a t Herho f ’ s l a tes t opera t ing MBT re fe rence p lan t i n Dresden and the spare capac i t y / s tandby p rov is ion (e .g . two sh redders , s tandby the rma l ox id i se r ) we wou ld expec t the Herhof sys tem to have an accep tab le l eve l o f ava i l ab i l i t y . The company p rov ided some da ta summar is ing the quan t i t y o f was te inpu t to the Rennerod and Ven ice p lan ts . Th is da ta i s shown in F igu re D115 . The company a l so s ta ted tha t ‘ no compl ian t was te de l i ve red by the c l i en t to a Herho f fac i l i t y has ever been tu rned away o r d i ve r ted to any a l te rna t i ve t rea tmen t ’ .

D3 .481 . Dur ing ou r v i s i t t o Ven ice i t was exp la ined tha t some p lan t downt ime was caused by bu lky was te mate r ia ls ge t t i ng in to the p rocess and a f fec t i ng the opera t ion o f t he sh redders , bu t no de ta i l s were p rov ided abou t the amoun t o f downt ime tha t occur red o r how o f ten th i s happened.

D3 .482 . A t l eas t fou r o f Herho f ’ s MBT p lan ts have been opera t ing fo r su f f i c ien t t ime to genera te mean ing fu l p lan t ava i l ab i l i t y da ta . We were p rov ided w i th some da ta abou t the quant i t y o f was te p rocessed a t the Rennerod and Ven ice re fe rence p lan ts , wh ich i s summar ised in F igu re D115 . The da ta shows tha t the Rennerod p lan t has opera ted be tween 66-101% o f i t s namepla te capac i t y and Ven ice has opera ted be tween 43-94% o f i ts namepla te capac i t y . No ava i l ab i l i t y da ta was p rov ided fo r the mos t recen t commerc ia l re fe rence p lan t a t Dresden.


Process Scale

D3.483 . The Herho f MBT p rocess has been imp lemented a t capac i t i es rang ing f rom 85 ,000 Tpa to 150,000 Tpa . The p rocess i s based on a modu la r concep t i n wh ich mul t i p le b io -d ry ing boxes a re used s ide -by-s ide to ach ieve the requ i red capac i t y . Each b io -d ry ing box can ho ld abou t 280 Tonnes o f was te , depend ing on the des ign c r i t e r ia .





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Figure D115: Availability data for the Rennerod and Venice MBT plants

Plant name: Rennerod

Year Plant Commissioned: 2000

Design Capacity: c. 85,000 Tpa residual MSW

Status: Commercial plant

Year Measured throughput (Tpa)

2001 56,284

2002 63,132

2003 86,048

2004 71,377

Plant Name: Venice

Year Plant Commissioned: 2001

Design Capacity: c. 150,000 Tpa residual MSW

Status: Commercial plant

Year Measured throughput (Tpa)

2002 65,021

2003 141,408

2004 137,442

Source: Herhof

D3.484 . As the Herhof MBT p rocess has opera ted a t fou r re fe rence p lan ts a t commerc ia l sca le fo r a number o f yea rs , we wou ld no t expec t any s ign i f i can t sca le -up i ssues i f t he p roponents o f the techno logy con t inue to imp lement i t i n th i s modu la r manner .

Figure D116: Number of boxes used at Herhof’s MBT plants

Plant Capacity, Tpa No. of Bio-drying boxes used

Aßlar, Germany 120,000 24

Rennerod, Germany 85,000 7

Dresden, Germany 85,000 9

Venice, Italy 150,000 12

Geel, Belgium 180,000 13

Source: Juniper’s representation of Herhof’s data

Output Materials

D3.485 . F igu re D117 g ives the quan t i t i es o f ou tpu ts tha t a re ob ta ined f rom the Herho f p rocess

opera t ing a t Dresden.





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Figure D117: Products based on typical inputs and outputs from the Dresden plant


SRF 42,500 Herhof have stated that this is used as a co-fuel.

Metals (Fe and Non-Fe) 4,250 recycled

Residues 12,750 landfilled

Off-gases (including moisture) 25,500 a portion of the moisture is condensed and re-used in the plant. The remaining gases are treated by thermal oxidation before exhausting flue gases to atmosphere

Wastewater not reported reported to be minimal. At Rennerod wastewater is cleaned and recycled in the plant as cooling water


D3.486 . SRF: F igu re D118 summar ises in fo rmat ion f rom Herho f and Idecom abou t where the SRF f rom the va r ious MBT re fe rence p lan ts i s be ing u t i l i sed .

Figure D118: Where the SRF from Herhof’s reference plants is being used

Location SRF Utilisation

Aßlar local combustion & district heating system

Rennerod Rüdesdorfer Zement and other co-combustion applications (details withheld for commercial reasons)

Venice Trials in coal-fired power station owned by ENEL, cement kilns, dedicated RDF boiler. Further details were not made available for commercial reasons.

Dresden SVZ (partly), other co-combustion applications (details withheld for commercial reasons).

Osnabrück, Germany

Mertesdorf, (Trier), Germany

Osthessen, Fulda, Germany

Plan to use for steam production at two paper manufacturers

Geel, Belgium Not Specified

Oberes Elbtal, Germany Coal-fired power station. Details not provided for commercial reasons.

Source: Juniper’s representation of Herhof’s and Idecom’s information

D3.487 . We were in fo rmed by Idecom tha t abou t 50% o f the SRF f rom the Ven ice p lan t i s cu r ren t l y be ing sen t fo r use in the nearby ENEL coa l - f i red power s ta t i on as pa r t o f ex tended t r i a l s wh ich have been ongo ing fo r the las t two years . Th is opera tor requ i res SRF to be pe l l e t i sed . We were a l so in fo rmed , by Idecom, tha t a fu r the r 30% o f the SRF p roduced i s be ing sen t o f f - s i te fo r use in cement k i l ns and a ded ica ted RDF bo i le r . The rema in ing 20% o f the SRF i s sen t to l and f i l l .

D3 .488 . Herho f s ta ted tha t the SRF f rom Rennerod i s sen t to va r i ous power p lan ts and cement k i l ns i n Germany, bu t no de ta i l s o f how much has ac tua l l y been used a t wh ich p lan ts were p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew. Some o f the SRF f rom the Dresden p lan t i s pe l l e t i sed and sen t to SVZ fo r use in the i r f i xed bed gas i f i e rs w i th o the r was tes and coa l to p roduce power and methano l . Herho f have to ld us tha t they have o the r ou t le ts fo r th i s ma te r i a l bu t have dec l i ned , fo r commerc ia l reasons , to p rov ide any fu r the r de ta i l s .





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D3.489 . U t i l i sa t i on o f the SRF i s essen t ia l i f t h i s p rocess i s to pe r fo rm we l l aga ins t l and f i l l d i ve rs ion ta rge ts . I den t i f y i ng secure ou t le t s fo r the SRF wi l l a l so i n f l uence the bankab i l i t y o f the Herho f sys tem.

D3 .490 . Herho f p rov ided some data on the compos i t i on o f the SRF ou tpu t f rom the i r b io -d ry ing p rocess . Th is da ta i s summar ised in F igu re D119 and in F igu re D120 .

D3 .491 . SRF compos i t i on da ta based on the Aβ l a r p lan t , pub l i c i sed in a separa te EU repor t 1, i s summar ised in F igu re D121 .

Figure D119: Heavy metal concentration of Herhof’s SRF (Rennerod)

Median 80th percentile Median 80th

percentile Component

Unit

(dry basis) Limit No. of

samples 2003 2002

Arsenic mg/kg 20 70 1.4 2.1 1.2 2.3

Lead mg/kg 350 70 210 270 280 340

Cadmium mg/kg 10 70 2.6 4.2 3.5 9.8

Chromium mg/kg 200 70 92 150 120 188

Cobalt mg/kg 20 70 6.8 8.2 9.4 11.2

Copper mg/kg 750 70 180 370 265 612

Nickel mg/kg 100 70 28 43 35 43

Zinc mg/kg - 70 470 560 660 900

Mercury mg/kg 1.5 70 0.43 0.58 0.62 0.83

Beryllium mg/kg 2 70 0.28 0.38 0.35 0.51

Thallium mg/kg 3 70 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

Antimony mg/kg - 50 6.5 14 - -

Vanadium mg/kg - 49 6.9 10 - -

Tin mg/kg - 46 14 17 - -

Sulphur wt% 1.0 70 0.26 0.34 0.35 0.47

Chlorine wt% 2.0 70 0.51 0.62 0.70 0.85

Source: adapted by Juniper from Herhof data

1 E u r op ea n C om m is s io n – D i r ec t o r a t e G ene r a l E n v i r o n me n t : ‘ R e f us e D e r i ve d F ue l , C u r r en t P rac t i c e a nd P e rs p ec t i ve s , B 4 -3 04 0 / 2 00 0 / 3 0 65 17 / M A R/ E3 , J u l y 2 0 03 ’





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Figure D120: Composition of Herhof’s SRF

Content Units Dry weight analysis,

%

Contaminants (stones, glass, ceramics, metals) % dry wt. 1

Renewable substances (carboard, paper, textiles, wood, organic) % dry wt. 65

Plastic % dry wt. 9

Other fossil fuel combustibles (synthetic fabrics, rubber, laminates) % dry wt. 25

Calorific value MJ/kg 15 - 18

Moisture content % c. 15

Ash content % c. 20

Source: Herhof

D3.492 . The da ta i n F igu re D121 ind ica tes tha t the heavy meta l l oad in the SRF f rom the Herho f

MBT p rocess i s genera l l y l ess than the heavy meta l l oad assoc ia ted w i th Au to-Shredder

Res idue (ASR) and demol i t i on wood .

Figure D121: Comparison of Herhof’s SRF (Aßlar) with other waste-derived fuels and coal

Content Unit Herhof’s SRF

Paper reject pellets

Demolition wood ASR Hard coal Brown

Coal

CV MJ/kg 16.5 25 17 18.3 28 9.1

Nitrogen % 1.7 0.14 2.93 2.0 1.4 1.0

Sulphur % 0.2 0.1 0.17 0.32 0.88 1.5

Chlorine % 0.44 0.67 0.118 0.56 0.14 0.11

Arsenic mg/kg 0.8 <0.06 4 10.6 6.9 2.1

Lead mg/kg 230 60 762 2,710 33 2.1

Cadmium mg/kg 2.2 3.12 4.1 31.9 0.35 0.07

Chromium mg/kg 600 25.9 48 489 30 5.3

Copper mg/kg 200 207 1,390 5,320 21 2.1

Nickel mg/kg 25 9.3 15.8 366 24 3.4

Mercury mg/kg 0.75 < 0.01 1.5 NS 0.4 0.1

Zinc mg/kg 400 309 500 8,510 42 5.8

Source: adapted by Juniper from European Commission – Directorate General Environment; ‘Refuse Derived Fuel, Current Practice and Perspectives, B4-3040/2000/306517/ MAR/E3, July 2003, prepared by WRC.

D3.493 . Never the less , i f t he SRF p roduced by the Herhof p rocess i s co - f i red w i th e i the r o f the

two coa ls l i s ted , the re cou ld be an apprec iab le i nc rease in the heavy meta l and ch lo r i de

loads in the combus t i on produc ts . Th is w i l l de te rm ine the pe rcen tage o f SRF tha t cou ld

be co - f i red wh i le ma in ta in ing the emiss ions be low regu la to ry requ i rements ( the i ssues

assoc ia ted w i th co - f i r i ng a re d i scussed in Annexe C) .





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D3.494 . The da ta l i s ted in F igu re D122 suppor ts th i s conc lus ion . A measurab le i nc rease in

heavy meta l and ch lo r i de load ing in the cement c l i nke r was repor ted when Herho f ’ s SRF

was co -combus ted in a cement k i l n . However , t he inc rease in the load ing o f these

po ten t ia l con taminan ts i s we l l w i th in the l im i t s tha t have been se t by the Swiss s tandard

fo r cement c l i nke r (BUWAL) , i nd ica t ing tha t the use o f the Herho f SRF mate r i a l i n

cement k i l ns w i th a s im i la r compos i t i on to tha t summar i sed f rom the EU s tudy (see

F igu re D121) , m igh t no t adverse l y a f fec t the qua l i t y o f the cement p roduc t .

Figure D122: Heavy metal and chloride loads in cement clinker from using secondary fuels

Content Unit Without SRF

Herhof’s SRF

Paper reject pellets

Demolition wood ASR BUWAL1

Chlorine mg/kg 134 606 606 205 1,180 -

Arsenic mg/kg 13 12.9 12.7 13.2 14.9 40

Lead mg/kg 16.2 43.7 20.3 105 554 100

Cadmium mg/kg 0.3 0.54 0.52 0.75 6.6 1.5

Chromium mg/kg 34.6 39.3 33.8 37.6 129 150

Copper mg/kg 17.9 41.4 33.5 180 1,070 100

Nickel mg/kg 27.3 29 26.4 27.8 98.5 100

Mercury mg/kg 0.12 0.14 0.09 0.19 0.08 -

Zinc mg/kg 59.6 108 83.3 117 1,750 130

1. Swiss product specification for cement clinker

Source: as Figure D121

D3.495 . F igu re D123 shows the resu l ts ob ta ined when Herho f ’ s SRF was used as a secondary

co - fue l i n a power p lan t . There was an ove ra l l i nc rease in the po ten t ia l con taminant

l oad ing compared w i th the s i tua t ion when no SRF was used . However , t he heavy meta l

concen t ra t ions in the bo t tom ash f rom th i s co -combus t ion app l i ca t ion a re , i n mos t

cases , s ign i f i can t l y l ower than the t yp i ca l amoun ts found in i nc ine ra to r bo t tom ash ,

wh ich i s be ing u t i l i sed as a subs t i tu te aggrega te mate r ia l i n many EU Member S ta tes .


D3.496 . Gas c lean ing: The o f f -gases pu rged f rom the p rocess a re sen t to the Herho f RTO ( see F igu re D110) . I n th i s sys tem the o rgan ic con taminan ts i n the o f f -gases a re combus ted a t a tempera tu re o f 850 o C and a res idence t ime o f two seconds , and the f l ue gases ven ted to a tmosphere v ia a s tack . The regenera t i ve des ign min im ises the requ i rement fo r supp lementa ry hea t ing by recover ing 98% o f the hea t i n the f l ue gases . The th ree chambers each con ta in a ce ramic hea t exchanger th rough wh ich the gases can f l ow. A t any t ime one o f the th ree chambers i s be ing hea ted by the f l ue gases leav ing the un i t and ano the r i s re leas ing i t s hea t to the incoming s t ream o f





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con tamina ted a i r . A bu rner p rov ides the f i na l energy inpu t to ra i se the tempera tu re to 850 o C in the p lenum chamber a t the top o f the un i t . The th i rd chamber i s pu rged to remove the unprocessed a i r t ha t remains be low the hea t recovery a rea . I t i s then ready to become the ou t le t chamber ( i .e . t he f l ue gases ex i t chamber ) when swi t chover occurs .

Figure D123: Power plant bottom ash composition with 5% secondary fuel usage

Content Unit Without SRF Herhof’s SRF Demolition wood ASR

Typical composition of metals in MSWI bottom

ash

Arsenic mg/kg 1.48 1.64 1.57 3.73 0.12 - 190

Lead mg/kg 4.90 8.01 13.57 108 98 - 14,000

Cadmium mg/kg 1.23 1.42 2.93 44.7 0.3 - 71

Chromium mg/kg 4.08 5.98 4.68 29.3 23 - 3,200

Copper mg/kg 5.19 5.19 34.20 363 190 - 8,200

Nickel mg/kg 1.90 2.28 1.98 11.60 7 - 4,300

Mercury mg/kg 3.85 6.71 5.89 7.13 0.02 - 7.8

Zinc mg/kg 5.34 5.34 11 320 610 - 7,800

Note: primary fuel is hard coal

Source: as Figure D121

D3.497 . Herho f ’ s RTO i s i nco rpora ted in to a l l o f Herho f ’ s opera t ing MBT re fe rence p lan ts ( i nc lud ing those ou ts ide Germany) as a means o f con t ro l l i ng the leve ls o f TOC 1 to mee t the l im i ts i n the German 30 t h B ImSchV regu la t i ons , and odorous emiss ions f rom the b io -d ry ing p rocess . We unders tand tha t Herho f be l i eves tha t the i r RTO sys tem i s a cos t - e f fec t i ve so lu t i on fo r UK pro jec ts ( the i r des ign fo r Lancash i re i nc ludes an RTO) . Use o f such a sys tem wi l l i nc rease the v i sua l p ro f i l e o f an MBT p lan t .

D3 .498 . The p lan ts we v i s i t ed each have two RTO un i t s , wh ich ensure tha t fu l l exhaus t a i r c lean ing capab i l i t y i s re ta ined even du r ing main tenance o f the the rma l ox id i se r . Whi le th i s i s good f rom a p rocess eng ineer ing and an env i ronmenta l pe rspec t i ve , hav ing th i s t ype o f redundancy w i l l impac t on the process economics fo r the opera to r .

Footprint and Visual Impact

D3.499 . The 120 ,000 Tpa Aß la r p lan t occup ies an a rea o f 7 ,800 m 2 , compared w i th an a rea o f 5 ,800 m 2 fo r the 85 ,000 Tpa Dresden p lan t (a reas occup ied by the bu i l d ing a t each s i te ra the r than o f the s i te as a who le ) . These f i gu res sugges t tha t , as a ru le -o f - thumb, a l and- take o f abou t 0 .065 m 2 /Tpa can be assumed.

1 TO C = To ta l O rg a n i c Ca r bon





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D3.500 . The v i sua l impac t i s i nc reased because o f the s tack requ i red fo r the Herho f RTO, wh ich m igh t impac t upon pub l i c accep tance in the UK. The s tack o f the Herho f fac i l i t y a t Ven ice i s s ign i f i can t l y l ower than tha t assoc ia ted w i th the sma l le r capac i t y (50 ,000 Tpa) ad jacent MSW inc ine ra to r .

Figure D124: Herhof MBT plant (on the right) adjacent to an MSW incinerator (Venice)


Costs

D3.501 . No cos t da ta was p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew.

Outstanding quest ions

D3.502 . A t the t ime o f wr i t i ng th i s rev iew the fo l l ow ing ques t ions remained unanswered :

The quant i t y o f SRF sent to the va r ious end-users o f th i s ma te r i a l ;

The qua l i t y requ i rements o f the SRF fo r the va r ious end-users ;

The cos t o f imp lement ing the Herhof p rocess in the UK;

The energy requ i red to opera te a Herho f MBT p lan t .

Summary

D3.503 . Herho f Env i ronmenta l has been ac t i ve l y p romot ing the i r t echno logy in the UK.





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D3.504 . They a re we l l known th roughou t Europe and have re fe rence p lan ts i n th ree d i f f e ren t count r i es (un l i ke o the r supp l ie rs o f the b io -d ry ing techno logy who have on ly opera ted so fa r w i th in a s ing le coun t ry ) . Th is exper ience cou ld g i ve Herho f an advan tage in p romot ing the i r techno logy in the UK.

D3 .505 . We unders tand tha t Herho f has recen t l y been named as the p re fe r red b idder fo r an MBT p ro jec t i n Lancash i re and has a lso been shor t l i s ted , a long w i th th ree o the r compan ies , fo r a second MBT p ro jec t i n the same reg ion . Wh i le these p ro jec ts i n the UK MBT sec to r w i l l i nc rease the i r v i s i b i l i t y , t he re i s s t i l l s ign i f i can t unce r ta in ty abou t ob ta in ing su i tab le l ong- te rm ou t l e ts fo r the SRF (see Annexe C) .

D3 .506 . The land f i l l d i ve rs ion pe r fo rmance o f th i s t ype o f p rocess i s c r i t i ca l l y dependen t upon secur ing dependab le o f f - take ag reements tha t a re secure fo r the l i f e - t ime o f the fac i l i t y .

D3 .507 . In th i s con tex t ac tua l da ta f rom the i r exper iences in marke t ing the SRF f rom ex is t i ng p lan ts i s impor tan t to sa t i s f y UK c l i en ts o f the v iab i l i t y o f th i s approach , pa r t i cu la r l y i n the con tex t o f p rev ious d i f f i cu l t i es i n secur ing commerc ia l l y v iab le o f f - take ag reements i n the German marke t p lace .

D3 .508 . In a reas where su i tab le SRF o f f - take ag reements can be pu t i n p lace , the Herho f sys tem i s l i ke l y to be seen as a lead ing con tender fo r appropr ia te p ro jec ts .

As we wen t to p ress , Le ts recyc le .com ran a news i tem tha t quo ted Lancash i re Coun ty Counc i l as say ing tha t they were in fo rmed on March 1 s t “by Herho f Env i ronmenta l (UK) tha t i t s s i s te r company , Herho f Umwe l t techn ik GmbH, has gone in to admin is t ra t i on ”

This review was prepared in January 2005 from information provided by the company during our site visits and public domain

information held on our in-house database. Two site visits: Rennerod, Germany and Venice, Italy were conducted in 2004. A

site visit was also carried out in 2002 to the plant in Dresden, Germany as part of a separate due diligence exercise. The

review was finalised in February 2005, following further clarification discussions with the process company.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s H E S E



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HESE


Hese have built an MBT process in the UK utilising a two-step anaerobic digestion configuration. Mechanical pre-processing is carried out in a ball mill, which is a different, but not yet proven approach for pre-treating mixed MSW. The main process outputs are heat & power, RDF and a soil improver.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plant


1st reference built, currently

in commissioning phase



• first MSW project in the UK

• process can be implemented in a modular manner to utilise existing infrastructure and to minimise the impact of waste management

• 1st UK implementation is on two sites and is not a single integrated facility. As a result it is not considered by many as an “MBT” reference

• lack of data on their reference plant

Contact details Hese (UK) Ltd. 1 Chapel Street Duffield, Derby DE56 4EQ, UK

Tel: +44 1332 842 848 Fax: +44 1332 559 950

www.hese-umwelt.de

Key contact Paul Wayman


M SW

P re -t r ea tment

Fe & non - Fe meta l s

RDF

B i o g a s t o e l e c t r i c i t y g e n e r a t i o n

Anae rob ic

D ige s t i on

Hyd ro l y s i s

S o i l Imp rove r





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Overview

D3.509 . Hese Umwel t i s a German based company tha t p rov ides tu rnkey so lu t i ons fo r the

b io log ica l t rea tment o f was te . The company i s pa r t o f Masch inen fab r i k E rns t Hese

GmbH, wh ich has long-s tand ing exper ience in supp ly ing mate r i a l s hand l i ng sys tems to

c l i en ts i n the u t i l i t y , m in ing and indus t r i a l sec to rs .

D3 .510 . In 2002 the company became a ma jo r shareho lde r i n Va lo rga In te rna t iona l SA (see the

Va lo rga p rocess rev iew) , a F rench company w i th a w ide ly marke ted d ry anaerob ic

d iges t ion techno logy, wh ich i s cu r ren t l y be ing opera ted a t a number o f re fe rence p lan ts

fo r t rea t ing MSW.

D3 .511 . Hese has a number o f re fe rence p lan ts t rea t ing o rgan ic was tes and a l so has exper t i se

i n des ign ing and manu fac tu r ing a range o f mechan ica l p re -p rocess ing equ ipment .

D3 .512 . The o rgan ic was te t rea tmen t p lan ts u t i l i se the so -ca l l ed IMC ( In teg ra ted Methan isa t i on

and Compos t i ng ) p rocess , deve loped by BEG B ioEnerg ie . The sys tem combines ae rob ic

hyd ro lys i s w i th anaerob ic d iges t ion in a two-s tep p rocess . Th is two-s tep b io log ica l

p rocess i s i n teg ra ted in to the MBT sys tem be ing marke ted by Hese.

D3 .513 . We have no t been ab le to v i s i t Hese ’s on ly MSW re fe rence p lan t , wh ich we unders tand

i s cu r ren t l y be ing commiss ioned . We were in fo rmed by B i f fa Le ices te r ( the opera to r )

tha t a v i s i t t o conduc t a s i te appra i sa l wou ld on ly be pe rm i t ted when the p lan t was fu l l y

commiss ioned , expec ted to be somet ime in 2005 . I n add i t i on , Hese has on ly p rov ided

us w i th bas ic i n fo rmat ion fo r th i s rev iew, i n add i t i on to the in fo rmat ion tha t i s a l ready in

the pub l i c doma in , and the re fo re many ques t ions concern ing the p rocess remain .


D3.514 . Hese , i n pa r tne rsh ip w i th B i f f a , has recent l y comp le ted the cons t ruc t i on o f i t s f i rs t

commerc ia l p ro jec t fo r MSW, wh ich i s i n Le ices te rsh i re , Eng land. The p rocess , as

imp lemented in Le ices te r , i s des igned to hand le 110,830 Tpa MSW and i s sa id to have

the po ten t ia l f o r th i s capac i t y to be inc reased up to 220 ,000 Tpa . Abou t 83% o f the

was te inpu t w i l l be househo ld was te .

D3 .515 . A l though i t i s desc r ibed as ‘MBT’ i n the company ’s l i t e ra tu re , the mechan ica l p re -

t rea tmen t par t o f t he p rocess a t Le ices te r i s l oca ted a t a d i f fe ren t s i t e f rom the

b io log ica l p rocess e lements . The mechan ica l p re - t rea tmen t p lan t i s l oca ted a t a new

purpose bu i l t f ac i l i t y a t the Beaumont Leys Was te Trans fe r S ta t ion , wh ich i s a few m i les

away f rom Severn T ren t Wate r 's Wan l ip sewage t rea tment works , where the b io log ica l

p rocesses a re l oca ted . Bo th fac i l i t i es w i l l be opera ted by B i f fa Le ices te r (a pa r tne rsh ip

be tween B i f fa Was te L td . and Le ices te r C i t y Counc i l ) .





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D3.516 . The open ing o f the p lan t , o r ig ina l l y schedu led fo r Ju l y 2004 , was de layed due to a f i re

a t the mechan ica l t rea tmen t p lan t i n Bursom. The f i re was repor ted to have s ta r ted in

the p lan t ’ s ba l l m i l l ( see p rocess desc r ip t i on be low) when we ld ing repa i rs were be ing

ca r r i ed ou t – and , to be unre la ted to no rma l opera t ions . Repa i r cos ts a re repor ted to be

in the o rde r o f £2M. Recent con tac t w i th B i f fa Le ices te r i nd i ca tes tha t the p lan t

res ta r ted in November 2004 and commiss ion ing i s ongo ing . The commiss ion ing phase i s

schedu led to con t inue un t i l t he sp r ing o f 2005 .

D3 .517 . F igu re D125 l i s ts some o f Hese ’s opera t ing re fe rence p lan ts . On ly the Le ices te rsh i re

p lan t t rea ts MSW. No fu r the r i n fo rmat ion was p rov ided abou t any o f the company ’s o the r

AD re fe rence fac i l i t i es .

Figure D125: Hese AD reference plants

Location Plant Capacity, Tpa Type of waste treated Startup

Herten, Germany 18,000 Municipal biowaste, food waste, sewage sludge, fat & oil waste, etc.

1998

Samnaun, Switzerland 500 Food waste from various sources 1999

Kitami, Japan 500 Municipal biowaste, food waste 2000

Bekkai, Japan 20,000 Manure, fat and oil waste 2001

Werlte, Germany 110,000 Manure, fat and oil waste 2002

Johannesburg, Germany 40,000 Manure, fat and oil waste 2002

Leicestershire, England 40,000 Fine crush organic material from mechanical treatment of MSW

late 2004

Hannover, Germany 120,000 Pre-treated MSW 2005

Note: The Hannover plant utilises the Valorga technology

Source: Hese

The Process

D3.518 . The Hese p rocess can be desc r ibed as mechan ica l p re - t rea tmen t fo l l owed by a two-

s tage we t anaerob ic d iges t ion p rocess . The was te d iges t ion w i l l be ca r r i ed ou t under

mesoph i l i c cond i t i ons a t a tempera tu re o f 35 o C .

Mechanical separat ion

D3.519 . The Hese sys tem u t i l i ses a cascade ba l l m i l l and a d rum sc reen as the p r imary was te

p re - t rea tmen t p rocesses .

D3 .520 . Th is t ype o f m i l l ope ra tes a t re la t i ve l y l ow c i r cumfe ren t ia l speeds (3 -4 m/s ) compared to

hammer mi l l s (abou t 70 m/s ) and u t i l i ses abou t fou r thousand , 8 kg meta l ba l l s to c rush

the input was te . Hese s ta te i n the i r l i t e ra tu re tha t the ba l l m i l l sys tem has been p roven





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i n Germany t o p rocess was te in a s im i la r manner , bu t we a re unc lea r o f the i r spec i f i c

exper ience w i th th i s techno logy, as no add i t i ona l da ta was p rov ided ; and , i n pa r t i cu la r ,

whe ther they have p roven the concep t on a he te rogeneous MSW s t ream, tha t may

con ta in some quan t i t i es o f i nappropr ia te ma te r i a ls , such as f l ammab le subs tances .

Figure D126: Hese’s ball mill at Leicestershire

Waste input Grinding zone ScreeningWaste input Grinding zone Screening

Source: Hese website

Figure D127: Hese’s MBT process in Leicestershire (mechanical pre-treatment)

Source: Juniper representation of Hese information



Cascade ball mill

Drum screen

MSW

Screen OverbandMagnet

<80mm

<40mm

Fe-metals

Floc for use as fuel

To digestion plant(see )<5mm

Fe-metals

Overbandmagnet

40-80mm

Air Classifier

Inerts

Ballistic separator

Non-Fe metals

Eddy current

separator Inerts



Cascade ball mill

Drum screen

MSW


<80mm

<40mm

Fe-metals


To digestion plant<5mm

Fe-metals

Overbandmagnet

40-80mm

Air Classifier

Inerts

Ballistic separator

Non-Fe metals

Eddy current

separator Inerts



Cascade ball mill

Drum screen

MSW


<80mm

<40mm

Fe-metals



Fe-metals

Overbandmagnet

40-80mm

Air Classifier

Inerts

Ballistic separator

Non-Fe metals

Eddy current

separator Inerts



Cascade ball mill

Drum screen

MSW


<80mm

<40mm

Fe-metals



Fe-metals

Overbandmagnet

40-80mm

Air Classifier

Inerts



Cascade ball mill

Drum screen

MSW


<80mm

<40mm

Fe-metals



Fe-metals

Overbandmagnet

40-80mm

Air Classifier

Inerts

Ballistic separator

Non-Fe metals

Eddy current

separator Inerts



Cascade ball mill

Drum screen

MSW


<80mm

<40mm

Fe-metals



Fe-metals

Overbandmagnet

40-80mm

Air Classifier

Inerts

Ballistic separator

Non-Fe metals

Eddy current

separator Inerts





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D3.521 . The p rocess essen t ia l l y g r inds the was te so tha t pa r t i c les sma l le r than 80mm pass

th rough a porous g ra te . Pa r t i c les >80mm remain in the c rush ing zone o f the m i l l un t i l

t hey a re reduced in s i ze su f f i c ien t l y fo r them to fa l l th rough the po rous g ra te .

D3 .522 . The pa r t i c les <80mm wi l l be fu r the r separa ted in a ro ta t i ng d rum sc reen in to f rac t i ons o f

<40mm and 40 -80mm.

D3 .523 . The <40mm f rac t ion w i l l be sc reened to recover fe r rous meta ls and then fu r the r

separa ted in to a <5mm f rac t i on , wh ich w i l l be sen t to the b io log ica l t rea tmen t p lan t and

a f rac t i on o f 5 -40mm, wh ich cou ld be u t i l i sed as a l ow CV secondary fue l f o r co -

combus t i on app l i ca t i ons .

D3 .524 . Hese ’s l i t e ra tu re s ta tes tha t the 40 -80mm par t i c les f rom the d rum sc reen wou ld have a

re la t i ve l y h igh energy con ten t (CV) and cou ld be su i tab le fo r use d i rec t l y i n co - f i r i ng

app l i ca t i ons such as i n cemen t k i l ns .

Digest ion

D3.525 . The <5mm f rac t i on f rom the mechan ica l p re - t rea tmen t p lan t w i l l pass to a

homogen isa t ion s tage in wh ich i t w i l l be m ixed w i th wa te r . Th is m ix tu re w i l l be pumped

to a se t t l i ng tank to remove dense mater ia l s , i nc lud ing meta l s , heavy ine r ts and g lass .

D3 .526 . The over f l ow f rom the se t t l i ng tank w i l l be hyd ro l ysed ( i . e . t he vo la t i l e b iodegradab le

mate r i a l s b roken down to fo rm o rgan ic ac ids ) under ae rob ic cond i t i ons . The quan t i t y o f

a i r used wou ld be con t ro l l ed by the tempera tu re and pH o f the suspens ion .

D3 .527 . Dur ing hyd ro lys i s , wh ich takes approx ima te l y two days to comple te , the mater ia l s wou ld

be hea ted to abou t 57 0 C and he ld a t th i s tempera tu re fo r a min imum o f f i ve hours .

D3 .528 . The suspens ion f rom the hydro l ys i s s tage w i l l be pumped on a semi -con t inuous bas is to

th ree anaerob ic d iges te rs . Here , d iges t ion (o r me than isa t ion ) takes p lace under

mesoph i l i c cond i t i ons w i th a hydrau l i c re ten t ion t ime (HRT) o f abou t 19 days . The

d iges te rs a re o f t he ‘ comp le te l y m ixed ’ t ype : us ing mechan ica l s t i r re rs to ensure

adequa te mix ing o f the suspens ion , wh ich i s con t inuous ly rec i rcu la ted th rough ex te rna l

hea t exchangers to ma in ta in the opera t ing tempera ture .

D3 .529 . A f te r the d iges t ion p rocess i s comp le te , the p rocess wa te r w i l l be separa ted f rom the

d iges ta te by a s ludge p ress . Some o f the wa te r wou ld be re -used in the homogen isa t i on

s tage , the rema inder go ing to wa te r t rea tment and the d iges ta te sen t fo r compos t ing .

A f te r compos t ing the p roduc t w i l l be used by Severn T ren t and be b lended w i th s ludge

to be used in the i r sewage s ludge recyc l i ng scheme, i . e . app l i ed to ag r i cu l tu ra l l and .

D3 .530 . The p roduced b iogas w i l l be pumped to ho ld ing tanks , de -su lphur i sed and ‘d r ied ’ be fo re

i t i s used in a CHP p lan t . Some o f the e lec t r i c i t y p roduced w i l l be expor ted and the

hea t used to ma in ta in the tempera tu re in the d iges t ion p rocess as we l l as fo r o the r on -

s i te heat ing app l i ca t ions . A f l a r ing sys tem wi l l be p rov ided fo r b iogas d isposa l when the

CHP p lan t i s no t opera t ing o r fo r emergency bypass s i tua t ions .





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Digesters at IMC plant in Leicestershire Valorga digesters in Hannover plant (under construction)Digesters at IMC plant in Leicestershire Valorga digesters in Hannover plant (under construction)Digesters at IMC plant in Leicestershire Valorga digesters in Hannover plant (under construction)

Figure D128: Hese’s MBT process in Leicestershire (Waste digestion plant)



Homogenisation Separator

<5mm fraction from mechanical separation plant (see previous fig.)

Heat & power

Sand, heavy inerts, etc.

Gas drying and cleaning

Air

Hydrolysis reactor

CHP plant Biogas Digester

Digestate

Decanter

Maturation Water to

treatment

Process waterGaseous emissions

Energy

‘Compost’ or soil improver



Homogenisation Separator

<5mm fraction from mechanical separation plant (see previous fig.)

Heat & power

Sand, heavy inerts, etc.

Gas drying and cleaning

Air

Hydrolysis reactor

CHP plant Biogas Digester

Digestate

Decanter

Maturation Water to

treatment

Process waterGaseous emissions

Energy

‘Compost’ or soil improver

Source: Juniper representation of Hese’s information

Figure D129: Photographs of Hese digestion reactors

Source: Hese website





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Process Performance

D3.531 . Ind ica t i ve mass f l ows ( i npu ts and ou tpu ts ) fo r the Hese p rocess , as p resen ted in the

p re -p ro jec t documenta t ion ( the app l i ca t ions fo r p lann ing consen t and PPC autho r i sa t ion )

fo r Le ices te rsh i re , a re shown in F igu re D130 . Based on F igu re D130 , the mass

d i ve rs ion po ten t ia l o f t he p rocess was ca lcu la ted and i s summar ised in F igu re D131

a long w i th the assumpt ions tha t were made in the ca lcu la t i ons .

Figure D130: Typical inputs and outputs from the Hese process for Leicestershire

Sand to landfill

(c. 8.6 %)

Water

‘Compost’(c. 27.8%)

Water loss (c. 2 %)

<5mm fraction (c. 36.2 %)

Possible co-fuel for cement kilns (c.

38.9 %)

Metals (c. 7.5 %)


(c. 14.4 %)

MSW(100%)

Biological Stage Mechanical Treatment Separation

Biogas to energy generation (c. 2.9%)*

NR – Not Reported* calculated by Juniper based on a total reported biogas yield of 4,000,000 m3 and biogas density of 0.8 kgm-3

Sand to landfill

(c. 8.6 %)

Water

‘Compost’(c. 27.8%)

Water loss (c. 2 %)

<5mm fraction (c. 36.2 %)

Possible co-fuel for cement kilns (c.

38.9 %)

Metals (c. 7.5 %)


(c. 14.4 %)

MSW(100%)

Biological Stage Mechanical Treatment Separation

Biogas to energy generation (c. 2.9%)*

NR – Not Reported* calculated by Juniper based on a total reported biogas yield of 4,000,000 m3 and biogas density of 0.8 kgm-3

Source: Biffa Planning and PPC applications

Figure D131: Diversion potential based on data in Figure D130

Diversion Potential Minimum, % Maximum, % Basis of Estimation

Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill c. 10 c. 77

Min: ‘Compost’ and co-fuel outputs sent to landfill with other residues.

Max: ‘Compost’ utilised and co-fuel used in cement kilns.

Note: This is total mass diversion not BMW diversion under UK diversion targets. No data was available on the biodegradability of the process streams.






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D3.532 . Th is p rocess w i l l on l y ach ieve a s ign i f i can t BMW d ive rs ion i f bo th the ‘ compos t ’ and co -

fue l p roduc ts were to be u t i l i sed .

Energy Balance

D3.533 . The company s ta ted tha t the Le ices te rsh i re p lan t i s des igned to p roduce 1 .5MW o f hea t

and power f rom the CHP un i ts , bu t i t i s unc lea r how much o f th i s ou tpu t wou ld be

ava i l ab le fo r expor t to the g r id . We expec t tha t the ba l l m i l l , and the heat requ i red in

the opera t ion o f the hydro lys i s and d iges t i on s teps , wou ld use a s ign i f i can t p ropor t i on o f

th i s hea t and power as a pa ras i t i c l oad bu t we were no t p rov ided w i th the re levant da ta

to a l l ow an assessment .

Output Materials

D3.534 . F igu re D132 g i ves the quan t i t i es o f ou tpu ts tha t wou ld be ob ta ined f rom the Hese

Le ices te rsh i re p lan t .

Figure D132: Process flows based on the Leicester plant processing 110,830 Tpa MSW

Process flows Tpa Application/destination

RDF 43,079 could be used in cement kilns

Metals 8,417 recycled

Rejects 15,946 landfilled

Biogas 4,000,000 m3 used in CHP plant

Sand 9,543 landfilled

‘Compost’/soil improver 30,802 matured and used as ‘compost’ or soil improver

Water Loss 2,227 to atmosphere

NR- Not Reported

Source: Juniper analysis of data from planning and PPC applications

D3.535 . Biogas: No ind ica t i on o f the b iogas y ie ld was p rov ided by Hese , and we were unab le to

ob ta in da ta abou t the compos i t i on and ca lo r i f i c va lue (CV) o f th i s s t ream. Fur the rmore

no de ta i l s abou t the methods used to c lean the b iogas , p r io r to f i r i ng in the CHP p lan t ,

were p rov ided . I t cou ld be assumed tha t the b iogas wou ld be p re - t rea ted to meet the

requ i rements o f the pe r fo rmance guaran tee p rov ided by the gas eng ine supp l ie r .

D3 .536 . RDF: We have no t been ab le to rev iew da ta on the compos i t i on o r CV o f the RDF

recovered f rom the p rocess . Th is da ta wou ld be he lp fu l i n assess ing the v iab i l i t y o f

u t i l i s i ng th i s ma te r i a l as a co - fue l i n cement k i l ns o r o the r co - f i r i ng app l i ca t ions . I f no

marke ts can be found fo r th i s ma te r ia l , i t wou ld have to be land f i l l ed , wh ich wou ld have

a s ign i f i can t nega t i ve impac t on land f i l l d i ve rs ion per fo rmance .





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D3.537 . ‘Compost ’ /so i l improver : The dewate red d iges ta te i s compos ted and matured be fo re

be ing combined w i th p rocessed sewage s ludge and app l ied to ag r i cu l tu ra l l and v ia

Severn T ren t ’ s sewage s ludge recyc l i ng ac t i v i t i es .


D3.538 . The fo l l ow ing in fo rmat ion has been ob ta ined f rom the app l i ca t i on documents fo r

p lann ing consen t and the PPC au tho r i sa t ion .

D3 .539 . The Wan l ip p lan t w i l l be fu l l y enc losed w i th i n teg ra ted dus t and odour con t ro l

p rocesses . An odour and b ioaeroso l impac t assessment was p repared by WS A tk ins as

pa r t o f t he Env i ronmenta l S ta tement wh ich conc luded tha t the aba tement p rocesses

p roposed fo r Wan l ip wou ld m in im ise bo th odour and b ioaeroso ls emiss ions and tha t the

p lan t wou ld no t pose any s ign i f i can t hea l th r i sk to the loca l popu la t i on . The s i te i s

p roposed to opera te a t a nega t i ve p ressure w i th a l l a i r t o be ex t rac ted and duc ted to

dus t f i l t e rs and then b io f i l t e rs fo r odour con t ro l . The des ign shou ld remove dus t to an

emiss ion l eve l o f 5 mg /m 3 and odours w i th a des ign e f f i c iency o f 90%. WS Atk ins ’ s tudy

recogn ises tha t dus t con t ro l i s essent ia l t o ensure tha t the b io f i l t e rs do no t become

b locked .

D3 .540 . No aba tement me thods have been bu i l t i n to the des ign to con t ro l t he emiss ions o f CO

and NOx f rom the gas eng ine exhaus t gases .


D3.541 . The p rocess i s l oca ted a t two d i f f e ren t s i t es i n Le ices te rsh i re . The land- take assoc ia ted

w i th th i s imp lementa t ion i s un l i ke l y to be rep resenta t i ve o f tha t requ i red by an

in teg ra ted fac i l i t y . F rom the p lann ing app l i ca t ion the requ i red s i te a rea fo r the AD and

compos t i ng fac i l i t i es i s s ta ted to be 0 .66 ha (6 ,600 m 2 ) , wh ich equa tes to 0 .1 m 2 /Tpa

( the des ign i s fo r 40 ,000 Tpa now, r i s ing to 67 ,644 Tpa in 25 years ) .

D3 .542 . The ta l l es t i tems in the Le ices te r p rocess a re the d iges te rs , wh ich a re 12m in he igh t .

Bu t as the d iges t i on p rocess i s co - l oca ted a t a sewage s ludge t rea tmen t p lan t , wh ich

a l ready has equ ipment o f th i s t ype , any add i t i ona l v i sua l impac t w i l l be ins ign i f i can t .

Th is i s a l so l i ke l y to be the case fo r imp lementa t ion o f th i s s i ze o f d iges te r i n s im i la r

i ndus t r i a l l oca t ions e l sewhere . The Wanl ip sewage t rea tment works i s genera l l y we l l

sc reened by t rees and wood land and in teg ra tes in to the su r round ing coun t rys ide .

D3 .543 . The o rgan ic so l i ds f rom the mechan ica l separa t i on p lan t wou ld have to be t ranspor ted to

the d iges t ion p lan t . Th is i s l i ke l y to have a l a rger veh icu la r impac t compared w i th a

fu l l y i n teg ra ted MBT p rocess .





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Costs

D3.544 . Tota l i nves tmen t cos ts fo r the 112 ,000 Tpa be ing bu i l t by B i f fa were repor ted to be

a round £30M. No fu r the r i n fo rmat ion was made ava i lab le fo r th i s rev iew.


D3.545 . The company dec l i ned to p rov ide us w i th more than the s tandard in fo rmat ion in the i r

sa les l i te ra tu re fo r the purposes o f th i s rev iew. A l though we were ab le to ob ta in some

in fo rmat ion f rom o the r pub l i c domain sources , many ques t ions abou t the Hese p rocess

rema in unanswered .

D3 .546 . We were unab le to ob ta in i n fo rmat ion abou t the re l i ab i l i t y o f t he d iges t ion techno logy

be ing imp lemented in Le ices te rsh i re . The b iogas y ie ld measured over a su f f i c i en t t ime

can g ive some ind ica t i on o f the ava i l ab i l i t y o f th i s pa r t o f t he p rocess , bu t the company

dec l i ned to p rov ide us w i th th i s i n fo rmat ion .

D3 .547 . No in fo rmat ion abou t the qua l i t y o f the RDF o r the ‘ compos t ’ / so i l improver ou tpu ts was

p rov ided. W i thou t th i s da ta we cou ld no t make re levan t compar i sons be tween the

qua l i t y o f t hese ou tpu ts f rom the Hese p rocess and marke t requ i rements . I t wou ld be

impor tan t to know how the meta l (Fe and Non-Fe) , heavy meta l (Hg , Cd , As , e tc . ) and

ine r t (g lass e tc ) con ten ts o f the RDF and ‘ compos t ’ / so i l improver ou tpu ts i s a f fec ted by

the ba l l m i l l p rocess and the s teps tha t w i l l be taken to m i n im ise the l eve l s o f the

va r ious con taminan ts .

D3 .548 . No in fo rmat ion was ava i l ab le on the poss ib le env i ronmenta l impac t tha t m igh t resu l t

f rom mix ing the ‘ compos t ’ / so i l improver p roduc t w i th p rocessed sewage s ludge in the

con tex t o f app ly ing the b lended mate r ia l t o ag r i cu l tu ra l l and . I t i s no t known how the

a t t i t ude o f fa rmers and o the r key s takeho lde rs m igh t be a f fec ted by the ‘ compos t ’

ma te r i a l con ta in ing a p ropor t i on o f o rgan ic ma te r ia l tha t had been de r i ved f rom mixed

MSW.

Summary

D3.549 . Hese i s ac t i ve in the anaerob ic d iges t ion sec to r , marke t ing sys tems fo r t rea t ing va r ious

b iowas tes . The p lan t i n Le ices te rsh i re i s the company ’s f i rs t MBT o f fe r ing and the i r

on ly p rocess t rea t ing m ixed MSW. The s ta r t -up o f the Le ices te rsh i re p lan t was

expec ted to be in May-June 2004 , bu t th i s has been de layed . Commiss ion ing was re -

s ta r ted in November 2004. There has been some nega t i ve pub l i c i t y assoc ia ted w i th th i s

de lay , wh ich has a f fec ted how th i s p rocess i s pe rce ived by some in the indus t ry . Un t i l

t he Le ices te rsh i re p lan t has demons t ra ted i t s operab i l i t y and re l i ab i l i t y ove r a su f f i c ien t

pe r iod o f t ime , some concerns expressed in the was te sec to r abou t the su i tab i l i t y o f th i s

approach cou ld rema in .





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D3.550 . I f commerc ia l l y p roven , the modu la r imp lementa t i on o f the MBT process in

Le ices te rsh i re cou ld have some bene f i t s , such as the u t i l i sa t i on o f ex i s t i ng

in f ras t ruc tu re a t the was te t rans fe r s ta t i on and the sewage t rea tmen t works . Th is cou ld

l ead to o the r po ten t ia l bene f i t s , i nc lud ing :

l ower i nves tmen t cos t f o r t he MBT p rocess ;

reduced v i sua l impac t ;

l ess ove ra l l impac t o f manag ing was te ; and ,

l ess i ssues w i th ga in ing p lann ing pe rmiss ion .

D3 .551 . There may be i ssues assoc ia ted w i th b lend ing the ‘ compos t ’ der i ved f rom mixed MSW

wi th sewage s ludge tha t i s to be recyc led to agr i cu l tu ra l l and . No in fo rmat ion was

ava i l ab le w i th respec t to the heavy meta l con ten t o f t he p rocessed sewage s ludge and

MSW b lended mate r ia l . The po ten t ia l f o r ‘ d i l u te & d i sperse ’ i ssues a re obv ious r i sks

tha t requ i re fu r the r eva lua t ion .

D3 .552 . Un fo r tunate l y , f rom the in fo rmat ion prov ided we cannot te l l to wha t ex ten t ex i s t i ng

resources (was te recept ion and hand l ing , was tewa te r t rea tmen t and d iges ta te

management ) a re be ing u t i l i sed by the MBT p rocess . Desp i te a number o f reques ts to

the company, i t was a l so no t poss ib le fo r Jun ipe r to ga in access to the p lan t a t

Le ices te r . Wh i l s t t h i s i s unders tandab le , s ince the p lan t has no t ye t comple ted

commiss ion ing , i t i s un fo r tuna te i n the con tex t o f th i s s tudy because the Le ices te r p lan t

i s the f i r s t imp lementa t ion o f a German MBT techno logy in the UK.

D3 .553 . I ssues iden t i f i ed above in re la t i on to RDF u t i l i sa t i on , uncer ta in ty o f o f f - take agreements

and d i spe rsa l o f con taminan ts as a resu l t o f t he ba l l -m i l l i ng ac t i on cou ld impac t upon

marke t pe rcep t ions o f th i s p rocess .

This review was prepared in November 2004 from the sales literature provided by Hese and other public domain information

(including Hese and Biffa Leicester websites). Hese told Juniper in August 2004 that they would not provide any additional

information for this study. We were also not able to obtain permission from Hese or Biffa Leicester to visit the reference

facility in Leicester. The review was finalised in January 2005.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s HO R STM A N N



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HORSTMANN


Horstmann has supplied MBT plants for treating MSW as well as mechanical and biological components for various MBT processes. They are currently building several MBT plants in Europe, all of which utilise tunnel composting as the core biological step.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plants




• process demonstrated on MSW

• is seen as a market leader who can offer partial and complete turnkey solutions

• market confidence in the technology: at least four new contracts to build turnkey MBT plants in the well-established German market. Involved in many other MBT contracts

• in-house technical and engineering resources

• some plants have a complex process configuration that might result in a higher cost solution

• process is a net energy user

• markets for the RDF and soil improver outputs would have to be secured

Contact details Horstmann GmbH & Co KG, Division Recyclingtechnik, Loher Busch 52, 32545 Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. Tel: +49 5731 794-0 Fax: +49 5731 794 210

www.horstmann-group.com

Key contact Gunnar Beyer,

Sales Department


C o m p o s t / S o i l i m p r o ve r ( 1 ) o r b i o -s t ab i l i se d ou t pu t ( 2 )

MSW

V a r i ous d r y r ec yc la b l es ( 2 )

/ R D F ( 3 )

O rg a n i c f r ac t i o n

T u n ne l Co m pos t i ng

M e t a l s

P r e - t r e a t me n t

( 1 ) B e i ng p ro du c e d i n S p a i n ( 2 ) O u t p u t s i n G e r ma n y ( 3 ) A c on f i gu ra t i o n f o r t he UK & I t a l y





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Overview

D3.554 . Hors tmann Gmbh & Co KG i s regarded in Europe as a lead ing supp l ie r o f MBT

p rocesses and componen ts fo r MBT p lan ts . The co re b io log ica l t echno logy used in

Hors tmann MBT p rocesses i s tunne l compos t ing , wh ich was deve loped in 1990 w i th i t s

Du tch subs id ia ry WTT (Was te T rea tmen t Techno log ies BV) , whose main ro le now i s to

bu i l d the p rocess ing equ ipment .

D3 .555 . A few o f the company ’s MBT re fe rence p lan ts bu i l t i n the 1990 ’s u t i l i se w ind row

compos t i ng as the co re b io log ica l e lement and they in fo rmed us tha t they a l so supp l y

we t anaerob ic d iges t ion sys tems , wh ich they are cu r ren t l y bu i l d ing a t two MBT p lan ts

( Jever and Schaumburg ) i n Germany.

D3 .556 . The company i s pa r t o f the German based Hors tmann Group a long w i th Hors tmann

Förder techn ik , a company tha t has 40 years exper ience in bu i l d ing indus t r i a l conveyor

sys tems . Hors tmann has been ac t i ve in supp ly ing so r t i ng and p rocess ing equ ipment fo r

va r i ous t ypes o f ma te r i a l s i n add i t i on to the i r ac t i v i t i es i n the compos t ing o f MSW and

b iowas tes . They a re rep resen ted in the UK by Hors tmann UK based in Cambr idge .

D3 .557 . Jun ipe r v i s i ted th ree o f Hors tmann ’s re fe rence p lan ts i n Germany and Spa in . The

re fe rence fac i l i t i es v i s i ted were we l l eng ineered and u t i l i sed d i s t i nc t l y s im i la r

cons t ruc t i on and layou t o f the p rocess equ ipment , i nd i ca t i ng tha t the company has

deve loped a p roven se t o f co re sub-sys tems . F igu re D134 l i s ts the MSW and MBT

p lan ts supp l ied by Hors tmann and WTT.

Figure D133: The Valladolid plant

Source: Juniper (taken during Juniper site visit).





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Figure D134: MSW references and Horstmann’s scope of supply

Location Plant capacity

Waste to tunnels

Current status Scope of supply Start-up Comments

Mec

hani

cal

pre-

trea

tmen

t

Com

post

ing

sy

stem

Turn

key

plan

t

Fuenlabrada, Spain 50,000 25,000 1997 Part of MBT

Oldenburg, Germany 80,000 40,000 (windrow) 1998 Part of MBT

Estepa, Spain 50,000 25,000 1998 Part of MBT

Lomellina, Italy 200,000 80,000 (windrow) 1999 Part of MBT

Neuss, Germany 55,000 2000 Fuel for

incineration Bio-drying plant

Madrid, Spain 480,000 200,000 2000 Part of MBT

Valladolid, Spain 210,000 83,000 2001 Part of MBT

Port Talbot, UK 54,000 2002 Part of MBT

Münster, Germany 70,000 30,000 2002 Tunnels being built

Onda, Spain 100,000 60,000 2002

Port Macquire, Australia 60,000 30,000 2002 Part of MBT

Barcelona, Ecoparc 2, Spain 265,000 2004 Part of MBT

Léon, Spain 217,000 80,000 2004 Being commissioned

Osterholz, Germany 60,000 2004 Being commissioned

Frohnleiten, Austria 65,000 2004 Part of MBT

Menorca, Spain 80,000 40,000 2004 Part of MBT

Olot, Spain 25,000 15,000 2004 Part of MBT

Minden, Germany 100,000 40,000 2005 Being

commissioned Part of MBT

Vorketzin, Germany 190,000 114,000 2005 MBT

Rosenow, Germany 190,000 114,000 2005 MBT

Kahlenberg, Germany 100,000 2006 Part of MBT

(tunnels used for bio-drying)

The colour coding system denotes plants currently operating ( ), plants that are under construction, under commissioning or in planning ( ), plants that have stopped operating ( ).

Source: Juniper analysis of Horstmann’s information





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D3.558 . Hors tmann has supp l ied two tu rnkey MBT p lan ts to da te and has a l so p rov ided co re

p rocess e lements to a t l eas t s i x o the r MBT fac i l i t i es . There a re a number o f new o rders

fo r the techno logy in the compet i t i ve and we l l es tab l i shed German marke t . MBT p lan ts

i n wh ich Hors tmann ’s tunne l compos t ing and /o r p re-p rocess ing sys tems have been used

range in sca le f rom 20,000 to 480 ,000 Tpa , w i th the Hors tmann e lement rece iv ing

be tween 30 ,000 to 200 ,000 Tpa o f i npu t .

D3 .559 . The techno logy has opera ted commerc ia l l y fo r a number o f yea rs i n d i f fe ren t EU

Member S ta tes in va r i ous con f igu ra t ions tha t have been op t im ised to su i t marke t

demand by p roduc ing va r ious ou tpu ts (RDF, compos t , b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t to l and f i l l ,

and to max imise the recovery o f recyc lab les )

D3 .560 . Fo r the t rea tmen t o f b io -was tes , the company has a s ign i f i can t number o f compos t ing

re fe rence p lan ts . These a re l i s ted in F igu re D141.

Figure D135: Tunnels under construction at Münster

Source: Juniper (taken during Juniper site visit).

D3.561 . Dur ing ou r s i te v i s i t t o the re fe rence p lan t i n Müns te r , Germany, on ly the was te p re -

p rocess ing s tage was in opera t ion . Th is p lan t , when comp le ted , w i l l have tunne l

compos te rs f rom Hors tmann and a d ry AD p rocess f rom Organ ic Was te So lu t ion (see

OWS process rev iew) . The p lan t i s housed in a fu l l y enc losed bu i ld ing and inc luded a

number o f p ieces o f ‘ s ta te -o f - the -a r t ’ separa t ion equ ipment such as a number o f Near

i n f ra red de tec to rs (N IR) , wh ich a re no t commonly found in o ther MBT p lan ts we have





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v is i ted . The p rocess i s a l so des igned to comply w i th the la tes t German emiss ions

s tandards and inc ludes the rma l o f f -gas t rea tmen t .

D3 .562 . We a lso v i s i t ed the company ’s Va l lado l id and Léon p lan ts . The la t te r p lan t i s an

impress ive cons t ruc t i on ; bu t as eng ineer ing works on Hors tmann ’s ex ten t o f supp ly had

jus t been comp le ted , i t was be ing p repared fo r commiss ion ing du r ing ou r v i s i t . Dur ing

ou r s i te v i s i t t o the opera t iona l MBT p lan t i n Va l l ado l i d , we d id de tec t s ign i f i can t

odorous emiss ions . Whi le , upon fu r the r i nves t iga t ion , much o f th i s odour seemed to be

assoc ia ted w i th the on-s i te we t anaerob ic d iges t ion p lan t ( supp l ied by ano the r

company) , wh ich was co -d iges t i ng sewage s ludge , v i s i to rs to the p lan t m igh t ge t the

impress ion o f a h igh ly odorous sys tem.

D3 .563 . We were unab le to ga in access to Hors tmann ’s on ly opera t ing tu rnkey MBT p lan t

(Madr id ) . We were in fo rmed tha t the opera to rs o f th i s p lan t were no t accep t ing v i s i to rs

because o f h igh leve ls i n the pas t .

The Process

D3.564 . As men t ioned ea r l i e r , t he Hors tmann process has been imp lemented to t rea t m ixed and

res idua l MSW in d i f f e ren t con f igu ra t ions to op t im ise d i f f e ren t ou tpu ts . F igu re D136

summar ises some o f the p rocess con f igu ra t ions imp lemented and p lanned by

Hors tmann .

Figure D136: Process concepts for some of Horstmann’s MBT reference plants

Process Concept

Mün

ster

& n

ew

Ger

man

pla

nts

Neu

ss,

Ger

man

y

Valla

dolid

Mad

rid

Léon

, Fu

enla

brad

a,

Ond

a, E

stap

pa,

Men

orca

, O

lot

a U

K pr

opos

al

to process mixed MSW

to process residual MSW

to maximise the recovery of recyclable materials, e.g. metals, plastics, paper

to recover metals

to produce a ‘good quality’ RDF

to employ a tunnel composting system to bio-stabilise the waste

tunnels being built

to bio-stabilise the organic fraction of the waste to produce a soil improver/compost

to produce a bio-dried fuel output

to utilise the output as a fuel in co-combustion applications

Source: Juniper analysis of Horstmann information





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Mechanical pre-processing

D3.565 . F igu re D137 i s a schemat i c o f the was te p re - t rea tmen t p rocess a t Müns te r .

Figure D137: Waste pre-treatment as operated at Münster

>220 mm

Shredder

Trommel

MSW

Trommel<220mm 50-120 mm

Air Knife

Air Classifier

Fe-metals

120-220 mm



Magnetic separator

To composting & AD plant (when completed)

Magneticseparator

Eddy current

separator

Non Fe-metals

<50 mm

NIR separator

Eddy current

separator

Fe-metals

Plastics

Non Fe-metals


densematerials

NIRseparator

Paper

light materials

NIRseparator

Plastics

NIR separator

Paper

NIR separator

Plastics

Residues to Landfill

>220 mm

Shredder

Trommel

MSW

Trommel<220mm 50-120 mm

Air Knife

Air Classifier

Fe-metals

120-220 mm



Magnetic separator

To composting & AD plant (when completed)

Magneticseparator

Eddy current

separator

Non Fe-metals

<50 mm

NIR separator

Eddy current

separator

Fe-metals

Plastics

Non Fe-metals


densematerials

NIRseparator

Paper

light materials

NIRseparator

Plastics

NIR separator

Paper

NIR separator

Plastics

Residues to Landfill

Source: Juniper representation of Horstmann information

D3.566 . The was te p re - t rea tmen t pa r t o f the process a t Madr id and Léon i s d i f f e ren t f rom tha t

be ing opera ted in Müns ter and those be ing bu i l t a t the new German p lan ts . Essen t ia l l y ,

t he p lan ts i n Germany op t im ise the recovery o f d r y recyc lab les v ia i n tens ive au tomated

sys tems , wh i l e i n Spa in recyc lab les a re recovered ma in l y v ia manua l p ick ing . Based on

in fo rmat ion w i th wh ich we have been p rov ided , i t wou ld appear tha t the leve l o f





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mechan isa t ion be ing used and imp lemented by Hors tmann in Germany wou ld a l so be

p roposed fo r new MBT p ro jec ts i n the UK.

D3 .567 . The p lan ts i n Madr id and Léon u t i l i se t rommel separa t ion o f the feed to p roduce a f i ne

f rac t i on (wh ich i s p rocessed b io log ica l l y ) and a coarse r ma te r i a l s t ream (wh ich

undergoes in tens ive manua l p i ck ing and some fe r rous meta l remova l ) . The res idues

f rom th i s s t ream a re land f i l l ed .

D3 .568 . The p rocess cu r ren t l y be ing opera ted a t Müns te r i s a ‘ s ta te -o f - the -a r t ’ mechan ica l p re -

t rea tmen t i n wh ich ex tens ive separa t ion o f the was te s t ream i s ca r r i ed ou t to p roduce

va r ious marke tab le p roduc ts . I t a l l ows a leve l o f f l ex ib i l i t y to op t im ise d i f f e ren t ou tpu ts ,

wh ich enab les the opera tors to reac t to changes in marke t demand . The p rocess cou ld

recover l i gh t p las t i c and paper i n add i t i on to fe r rous and nonfe r rous meta ls f rom the

res idua l was te i npu t .

D3 .569 . The Müns te r p lan t rece ives res idua l MSW, wh ich i s i nspec ted to recover ove rs i zed and

unwan ted i t ems , wh ich a re sent to l and f i l l . The was te i s sh redded and then sc reened a t

a ‘ s i ze cu t ’ o f 220mm. The f rac t ion >200mm is sen t back to the was te recep t ion ha l l fo r

fu r the r p rocess ing w i th the was te inpu t s t ream. The f rac t i on <220mm is passed to a

t rommel , wh ich d iv ides the was te s t ream in to th ree f rac t i ons .

D3 .570 . The sma l les t pa r t i c les (<50mm) f rom th i s s tage a re passed th rough e lec t romagne t i c and

eddy cu r ren t separa to rs to recover fe r rous and nonfe r rous meta ls respec t i ve l y . The

rema in ing mate r ia ls pass to s to rage as feeds tock fo r the d iges t ion p lan t . The d iges t ion

p lan t i s no t ye t opera t iona l and in the mean t ime the mate r i a l s a re l and f i l l ed .

D3 .571 . The med ium s i zed pa r t i c les (50 -120mm) a re passed th rough a i r separa to rs , wh ich

p roduce a l i gh t and a heavy f rac t ion . The l i gh t f rac t ion i s passed th rough near i n f ra red

separa to rs to recover paper and p las t i cs , w i th the rema in ing mate r ia ls i n th i s f rac t i on

be ing land f i l l ed . Me ta l s and p las t i cs a re recovered f rom the heavy f rac t ion be fo re i t i s

l and f i l l ed .

D3 .572 . The la rges t s i zed pa r t i c les (120-220mm) a re sc reened by add i t i ona l NIR separa to rs to

recover separa te paper and p las t i cs s t reams be fo re be ing sen t to l and f i l l .

Tunnel compost ing process

D3.573 . The Hors tmann /WTT tunne l compos t ing sys tem has so fa r opera ted on MSW in a t l eas t

14 re fe rence p lan ts . A fu r the r f i ve MBT p lan ts u t i l i s ing Hors tmann ’s tunne l compos t ing

sys tem a re under cons t ruc t i on o r be ing commiss ioned in Germany.

D3 .574 . In the p lan ts t rea t ing MSW, the f i ne f rac t i on f rom the p re -p rocess ing s tage i s compos ted

fo r 4 -7 weeks . Dur ing th i s t ime the was te i s tu rned tw ice to a id the degrada t ion p rocess

and i t ach ieves max imum tempera tu res o f abou t 70 0 C . The b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t f rom

the tunne ls i s passed th rough a re f i n ing p rocess to remove g lass , s tones , l i gh t f i lm and

ove rs i zed par t i c les . These con taminan ts a re sen t to l and f i l l , wh i l e the b io -s tab i l i sed

ou tpu t i s s to red (e i the r uncovered o r pa r t i a l l y covered) fo r a pe r iod o f t ime be fo re be ing

u t i l i sed .





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D3.575 . Fo r fu tu re imp lementa t ion o f the techno logy in the UK, the company in fo rmed us tha t

des ign changes have been made to have separa te ‘ c lean ’ and ‘d i r t y ’ pa r t s o f t he

p rocess in o rde r to comp ly w i th UK ABPR requ i rements on c ross -con tamina t ion be tween

inputs and ou tpu ts . Opera t ing da ta we have rev iewed a t the Va l lado l i d p lan t i nd i ca te

tha t the tunne l compos t i ng p rocess can mee t the tempera tu re - t ime requ i rements o f the

UK ABPR.

D3 .576 . Hors tmann in fo rmed us tha t a two mon th t r i a l was conduc ted w i th MSW a t the i r b iowas te

re fe rence p lan t i n S ingho fen to demons t ra te tha t the p rocess can meet the ABPR

tempera tu re requ i rements . However , the resu l t s o f these t r i a l s were no t made ava i lab le

fo r th i s rev iew.

Process Performance

D3.577 . The mass ba lance fo r the p rocesses be ing opera ted a t Müns te r and Va l lado l i d a re

shown F igu re D138 and F igu re D139 respec t i ve l y . Whi l s t t hese ba lances show the

d i f fe ren t ou tpu ts tha t have been ach ieved w i th Hors tmann p rocesses , we were no t ab le

to de te rmine the land f i l l d i ve rs ion pe r fo rmance o f the MBT p rocesses because o f the

lack o f fu r ther da ta .

Figure D138: Mass balance for the process at Münster

52%

Fe & Non Fe-metals

(4%)

Mechanical Pre-processing AD and Tunnel Composting Processes

Light plastics (13%)

Rejects to landfill (31%)

Waste Feed (100%)

Being built

52%

Fe & Non Fe-metals

(4%)

Mechanical Pre-processing AD and Tunnel Composting Processes

Light plastics (13%)


Waste Feed (100%)

Being built

Source: Juniper analysis of Horstmann data

Figure D139: Typical inputs and outputs for the Valladolid MBT process

Water(NR)

Off-gases to bio-filter(NR)

‘Compost’(10-20%)Wastewater for

recyclingMetals(4-5%)

Mechanical Pre-processing Tunnel Composting

Other dry recyclables

(NR)


Waste Feed (100%)

NR- Not Reported

Water(NR)

Off-gases to bio-filter(NR)

‘Compost’(10-20%)Wastewater for

recyclingMetals(4-5%)

Mechanical Pre-processing Tunnel Composting

Other dry recyclables

(NR)


Waste Feed (100%)

NR- Not Reported

Source: Juniper analysis of Horstmann data





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Energy Balance

D3.578 . No da ta was made ava i l ab le fo r th i s rev iew. The tunne l compos t i ng p rocess w i l l be a ne t

energy use r because o f the load requ i rements to opera te the p re -p rocess ing p lan t and

the compos t ing tunne ls . No power i s genera ted w i th in the p rocess .

Operabil i ty and Availabi l i ty

D3.579 . We were on ly p rov ided w i th de ta i l ed ava i lab i l i t y da ta fo r the Müns te r p lan t , wh ich i s

summar ised in F igu re D140 . The da ta f rom the Müns te r p lan t equa tes to 71 -82% o f i t s

namepla te capac i t y . I t shows tha t the pre -p rocess ing sys tem has opera ted sa t i s fac to r i l y .

We were in fo rmed tha t the fu l l capac i t y o f the Müns te r p lan t was p roven du r ing

‘accep tance tes ts ’ and tha t the cu r ren t pe r fo rmance i s due to i nsu f f i c ien t was te go ing to

the p lan t .

D3 .580 . I n fo rmat ion supp l ied by Hors tmann abou t the 2003 capac i t y fo r Madr id and Va l lado l id

sugges ts tha t these p lan ts were opera t ing a t the i r namepla te capac i t i es , bu t de ta i l ed

ava i l ab i l i t y i n fo rmat ion was no t p rov ided fo r us to ve r i f y th i s and to de te rm ine the

ava i l ab i l i t y i n o the r years .

D3 .581 . We no te tha t the Hors tmann MBT p rocess has been opera ted a t a number o f re fe rence

p lan ts and tha t mu l t i p le o rde rs o f the techno logy have been made in bo th Spa in and

Germany. Th is sugges ts tha t the re i s some marke t con f idence in the techno logy and

tha t opera t iona l pe r fo rmance to -da te wou ld appear to be sa t i s fac to ry .

Figure D140: Availability summary for the Münster reference plant

Plant commissioned: 2002

Design capacity of plant: 70,000 Tpa

Design capacity of composting tunnels (being built): 30,000 Tpa

Status: Only the mechanical pre-processing part of this plant is currently operating

Year Measured Throughput, Tpa Comments

2002 50,000

2003 55,000

2004 58,000 Projected throughput based on performance for first 8 months

Source: Juniper analysis of data supplied during our visit by Rethmann (the plant operator)


D3.582 . The f l ex ib i l i t y o f t he Hors tmann /WTT sys tem fo r t rea t ing MSW can be seen in F igu re

D141 . I n add i t i on to the i r MSW re fe rence p lan ts , the i r t unne l compos t ing p rocess has

been opera ted a t more than 20 p lan ts to t rea t va r i ous b io -was tes rang ing in sca le f rom





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abou t 12 ,000 Tpa to 75 ,000 Tpa . The compos t i ng process has a l so been used to t rea t

AD d iges ta te . A l i s t o f some o f the b io -was te p lan ts and Hors tmann ’s ‘ ex ten t o f supp ly ’

can be found in F igu re D141 . The p lan ts have been in opera t ion fo r some t ime and

ind i ca te tha t the compos t i ng p rocess can be regarded as p roven in commerc ia l

opera t ion .

Process Scale

D3.583 . The Hors tmann p rocess i s imp lemented in a modu la r manner . The capac i ty o f the

b io log ica l e lemen t o f t he p rocess i s ach ieved by u t i l i s i ng compos t i ng modu les o f fa i r l y

s tandard s i zes tha t have been used success fu l l y i n t rea t i ng MSW a t the company ’s

re fe rence p lan ts . We were in fo rmed tha t the new MBT p lan ts be ing bu i l t i n Germany w i l l

have compos t ing modu les o f s im i la r d imens ions to tha t be ing imp lemented in Müns te r

and tha t tunne ls imp lemented in the UK wi l l be abou t 6 .5m h igh in o rde r to

accommodate the des ign changes necessary to comp ly w i th the UK ABPR.

Figure D141: Selected bio-waste reference plants using Horstmann tunnels

Scope of supply Location Plant capacity,

Tpa

Machinery Composting process

Startup

Laubberg, Germany 25,000 1996

Klosterforst, Germany 15,000 1996

Wiehagen, Germany 20,000 1997

Würzburg, Germany 25,000 1997

Biogene Centre Peine, Germany 14,000 1997

Singhofen, Germany 30,000 1999

Frankfurt, Germany 30,000 1999

Ramboulliet, France 12,000 1999

Ecopol, Italy 26,000 2001

Maasmechelen, Belgium 27,500 2001

Nieheim/Höxter, Germany 75,000 2003

Source: Juniper analysis of Horstmann’s information

D3.584 . The p rocess has been imp lemented to t rea t up to 200 ,000 Tpa MSW in Madr id . We the re fo re do no t have any concerns ove r sca le -up o f the techno logy. The capac i t i es and d imens ions o f the compos t i ng tunne ls a t some o f Hors tmann ’s MSW re fe rence p lan ts a re l i s ted in F igure D142 .





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Figure D142: Horstmann composting tunnels

Height (m) Width (m)

Length (m) No. of Tunnels

Capacity of composting tunnels, Tpa

Münster (tunnels under construction at the time of writing)

5 5 30 16 c. 30,000

Valladolid 6 5 32 22 c. 83,000

Madrid 6 5 32 44 c. 200,000

Note. The Münster and Valladolid plants also treat digestate from the co-located AD plant. There is no AD plant at Madrid.

Outputs

D3.585 . Hors tmann MSW re fe rence p lan ts have been con f igu red fo r va r i ous ou tpu ts . Th is

demons t ra ted f l ex ib i l i t y cou ld be advan tageous in ta i l o r i ng the p rocess o f fe r ing and

ou tpu ts to su i t l oca l marke t requ i rements . The reader i s re fe r red to F igu re D136 o f th i s

P rocess Rev iew, where the ou tpu ts tha t can be ob ta ined f rom the va r ious p rocess

con f igu ra t ions a re summar i sed .

D3 .586 . We were unab le to ob ta in da ta on the compos i t i on o f the compos t p roduced a t the p lan ts

i n Va l lado l i d and Madr id , wh ich we were to ld was be ing used in v ineyards and on o the r

c rops . Th is da ta i s des i rab le to g i ve some ind ica t ion o f the ou t le ts tha t a re p rac t i cab le

fo r th i s ma ter ia l i n the UK. Wh i le we observed th i s ma te r i a l to be o f a sa t i s fac to ry

qua l i t y i n te rms o f i t s v i sua l con tamina t ion , we we re unab le to ob ta in da ta f rom e i the r

Hors tmann o r the p lan t opera to rs about the ac tua l compos i t i on o f th i s s t ream.

D3 .587 . The b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t f rom the German p lan ts w i l l have to mee t the German AT4

s tandards be fo re they a re land f i l l ed bu t no da ta conf i rm ing the ex ten t o f b iodegrada t ion

was made ava i l ab le .

D3 .588 . One o f Hors tmann ’s des igns fo r the UK inco rpo ra tes the separa t ion o f an RDF s t ream.

The des ign , wh ich we have seen , i nco rpo ra tes add i t i ona l ( to the p rocess a t Müns te r )

p rocess ing s tages to m in imise the leve ls o f me ta ls , g lass , ba t te r i es and ine r t

con taminan ts i n the RDF p roduc t . The ex t ra l eve l o f separa t ion on the res idua l s t ream

wi l l boos t the ca lo r i f i c va lue o f t h is s t ream. These two fac to rs a re l i ke l y to i nc rease the

marke tab i l i t y o f t he RDF f rac t i on , bu t th is w i l l s t i l l have to be demons t ra ted . The

p roposed des ign fo r the UK has no t been imp lemented e lsewhere and the re i s no

h i s to r i ca l ev idence fo r the u t i l i sa t i on o f the RDF s t ream. Consequen t l y , t he re cou ld be

a commerc ia l r i sk assoc ia ted w i th the use o r o the rw ise o f th i s RDF p roduc t .





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Process Gaseous Emiss ions

D3.589 . The p rocess o f f -gases f rom the p lan ts i n Spa in a re t rea ted us ing a b io - f i l t e r be fo re the

gases a re emi t ted to a tmosphere . In Germany, the MBT p lan ts w i l l use the rma l o f f -gas

t rea tmen t ( th i s i s a l ready the case a t the p lan t i n Müns te r ) i n o rde r fo r the emiss ions to

mee t the German 30 t h B ImSchV regu la t ions on TOC (To ta l Organ ic Carbon) , somet imes

re fe r red to as VOCs (Vo la t i l e Organ ic Compounds) .

D3 .590 . The more s t r i ngent requ i rements on gaseous emiss ions f rom MBT p lan ts i n Germany

lead to h igher cos ts fo r the t rea tment o f o f f -gases . Wh i le such a sys tem i s no t cu r ren t l y

requ i red in the UK, i t m igh t become BAT (Bes t Ava i lab le Techn ique) fo r MBT o f f -gas

t rea tmen t , wh ich i s cu r ren t l y be ing fo rma l i sed by t he European IPPC Bureau in Sev i l l e

( see Annexe B5) .

Wastewater Emiss ions

D3.591 . Hors tmann in fo rmed us tha t the p rocess recyc les a l l o f t he wa te r genera ted in the

compos t i ng process and does no t send any wa te r fo r t rea tmen t . I t appears tha t some

f resh wa te r may be requ i red fo r the compos t s to rage /matu ra t i on a reas when the p rocess

i s geared to p roduce a so i l improver , bu t i t i s unc lea r whe ther the leacha te f rom th i s

pa r t o f t he p lan t i s a lso co l l ec ted and recyc led - t hough i t appeared as though th i s

l eacha te was a l l owed to pass in to the so i l f rom the compos t s to rage a rea a t Va l lado l id .

D3 .592 . The Span ish opera to r a t Va l lado l id appeared to have had i ssues w i th wa te r usage and

exp la ined tha t the cos t o f wa te r , and the resu l t i ng lower u t i l i sa t i on , has a f fec ted the

qua l i t y o f the compos t p roduc t f rom tha t p lan t . Th is cou ld be an ind ica t ion tha t f resh

wa te r requ i rements migh t be s ign i f i can t . We were unab le to ob ta in wa te r usage f i gu res

f rom e i the r the opera to r o r Hors tmann.

D3 .593 . The 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 . We unders tand f rom our d i scuss ions w i th Hors tmann tha t they have taken

th i s i n to accoun t fo r UK opera t ion o f the i r p rocess and tha t wa te r w i l l on ly be recyc led

to the raw was te inpu t to the tunne ls .


D3.594 . The Hors tmann re fe rence p lan ts a re con f igu red in l ow p ro f i l e s t ruc tu res . F igu re D143

shows tha t i f t he rmal o f f -gas t rea tmen t i s i nc luded in the des ign 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 . 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 tmen t p rocess is

requ i red in the UK.





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D3.595 . No land- take in fo rmat ion was p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew. We no ted tha t i n Va l lado l id a

s ign i f i can t amoun t o f space i s be ing used fo r compos t s to rage and matu ra t i on , wh ich

cou ld have an impac t on the ove ra l l l and - take i f t he p rocess i s imp lemented in a s im i la r

manner i n the UK.

Figure D143: The Münster reference plant

Source: Horstmann


D3.596 . Comp le te mass ba lances f rom Hors tmann ’s opera t ing MBT p lan ts i n Spa in were no t

p rov ided. We were the re fo re unab le to de te rmine the land f i l l d i ve rs ion pe r fo rmance o f

the p rocesses .

D3 .597 . We were unab le to ob ta in da ta on the compos i t i on o f the ‘ compos t ’ p roduced a t the

p lan ts i n Va l lado l i d and Madr id . Th is da ta i s des i rab le to po ten t ia l use rs o f t h i s

techno logy t o g i ve some ind i ca t i on o f the poss ib le ou t le ts tha t a re p rac t i cab le fo r th i s

ma te r i a l , o r i f no ou t le ts a re ava i lab le , the imp l i ca t ions fo r d i sposa l o f th i s ma te r ia l .

D3 .598 . No ava i lab i l i t y da ta was prov ided fo r the p lan ts a t Va l lado l id and Madr id , though f rom

conversa t i ons w i th the opera to rs o f the Va l lado l id p lan t , i t wou ld seem tha t the p rocess

has been opera ted con t inuous ly w i th m ino r changes to improve the qua l i t y o f t he

compos t . We cou ld no t de te rmine the ac tua l yea r l y quan t i t y o f was te tha t has been

p rocessed a t these p lan ts s ince they were commiss ioned .

D3 .599 . No da ta was p rov ided to de te rmine the land- take requ i rements fo r a Hors tmann p lan t .

Stack for the thermal off-gas treatmentStack for the thermal off-gas treatment





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D3.600 . No cos t da ta was p rov ided bu t we wou ld expec t the cap i ta l cos t to be h igh to re f l ec t t he

complex i t y o f t he p rocess and h igh leve l o f eng ineer ing .

D3 .601 . No da ta was made ava i l ab le abou t the qua l i t y o f t he fue l p roduced a t Hors tmann ’s b io -

d ry ing re fe rence p lan t .

Summary

D3.602 . Hors tmann /WTT i s a ma jo r supp l ie r o f MBT p rocesses w i th a l ong-s tand ing t rack - reco rd

in the des ign and cons t ruc t i on o f componen ts fo r MRF ’s and MBT p lan ts supp l ied to

o the rs . Hors tmann can be regarded as one o f the ma jo r supp l ie rs o f MBT p lan ts i n th i s

marke t sec tor . The company has managed and imp lemented fu l l t u rnkey p ro jec ts ,

p rov id ing the fu l l ex ten t o f supp ly , exc lud ing c i v i l works , and they have ex tens ive

techn ica l and eng ineer ing resources in Germany and Po land to des ign and manu fac tu re

the re levan t p rocess equ ipment .

D3 .603 . They have worked in coopera t ion w i th ma jo r was te management compan ies in va r ious

EU s ta tes and w i th a number o f o the r MBT p rocess supp l ie rs and w i th Loca l Au tho r i t i es ,

ma in l y i n Germany, to de l i ve r the i r MBT p ro jec ts .

D3 .604 . The Hors tmann p rocess i s sound ly based , i s opera t ing a t a number o f re fe rence p lan ts

i n f i ve EU Member S ta tes and has won recen t tenders i n the compet i t i ve and we l l

advanced German MBT marke t . The MBT p rocess has been des igned to complement the

requ i rements o f was te management s t ra teg ies and produc t marke ts i n d i f f e ren t coun t r i es

and pa r t s o f the p rocess a re be ing opera ted w i th in one o f the mos t s t r i ngen t

env i ronmenta l reg imes in Germany.

D3 .605 . Though Hors tmann sa t i s fac to r i l y exp la ined and i l l us t ra ted in meet ings w i th Jun ipe r how

they wou ld des ign p lan ts fo r the UK to comply w i th the UK ABPR, none o f the company ’s

re fe rence p lan ts have ye t had to opera te to mee t th i s regu la t i on . Th is may inc rease the

cos t and imp lementa t ion t ime compared w i th p ro jec ts p resen t l y o f fe red e l sewhere .

This review was prepared in October 2004 from information provided by the company in September 2004. Site visits

(Münster, Germany; Valladolid, Spain; and Léon, Spain) were conducted on 02 September, 09 September, 10 September

respectively. Data on a number of performance indicators was sought in September 2004, but we did not receive further

relevant information from the company. Updates from Horstmann about the status of some of their projects was received in

February 2005. The review was finalised in November 2004.


A n ne xe D : T he P ro c e ss Rev i ew s I SKA



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ISKA


The ISKA process utilises a combination of percolation (effectively washing the biodegradable materials from the waste with water), anaerobic digestion and composting. The process, which operated at Buchen produced, as its main output, biogas and solid residues that were landfilled.

The latest plants being built by ISKA will produce biogas for use in gas engines, an RDF for co-combustion applications and a bio-stabilised output, which will be landfilled.


No plant yet built

Pilot Plant

Demonstrator plant

Commercial plant


operated

2000-2003

first commercial reference being commissioned



• flexible process concept, that can be optimised to produce a combination of biogas, RDF and a bio-stabilised output

• process can be a net energy producer via biogas utilisation

• unlike many MBT process companies, ISKA is ultimately owned by a large corporate entity (EDF).

• relatively complex process with a number of elements

• process concept for current projects has not yet been demonstrated on a fully commercial basis

Contact details ISKA Gmbh, Hertzstraße 26, 76275 Ettlingen, Germany.

Tel: +49 7243 7251 15 Fax: +49 7243 7251 11

www.iska-gmbh.de

Key contact Ralf Kutterer

Sales Manager


M e c h a n i c a l p r e - t r e a t m e n t

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

C o m p o s t i n g

F e - m e t a l s 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 e s i d u a l

M S W

R D F





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Overview

D3.606 . The German company ISKA GmbH i s pa r t o f t he ho ld ing company U-p lus Umwe l t se rv ice

AG in wh ich EnBW (Energ ie Baden-Wür t temberg AG) i s a ma jor shareho lder . U-p lus ’

ma in bus iness i s was te d isposa l se rv i ces ; and i t has a daugh te r company ca l l ed T -p lus

tha t opera tes a number o f was te t rea tmen t p lan ts i n Germany.

D3 .607 . Wi th in the f i nanc ia l yea r 2003 , EnBW toge the r w i th i t s 40 opera t ing subs id ia r ies showed

earn ings o f ove r €10 b i l l i on ; as we l l as be ing the e lec t r i c i t y supp ly company fo r the

Sou th Wes t o f Germany, i t i s a s ign i f i can t p laye r i n the German was te techno logy

marke t . EnBW is now ma jo r i t y owned by EDF (E lec t r i c i t é de F rance) , wh ich repor ted a

tu rnover o f €35 b i l l i on in 2001 .

D3 .608 . ISKA i tse l f i s a smal l techno logy company tha t was founded to commerc ia l i se a

pe rco la t i on techno logy l i censed to U-p lus , w i th in Europe . The techno logy o r ig ina tes

f rom the same Swiss pa ten t as the Wehr le pe rco la t ion techno logy (see Wehr le p rocess

rev iew) , bu t Jun ipe r unders tands tha t the ISKA p rocess has been demons t ra ted a t

Buchen , Germany in a con f igu ra t i on tha t i s d i f fe ren t to the Wehr le p rocess opera ted a t

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 .

D3 .609 . ISKA has s igned a l i cense ag reement w i th the Aus t ra l i an company G loba l Renewab les

L td . (GRL) – a subs id ia ry o f GRD a ma jo r m ine ra ls p rocess eng ineer ing company - to

use the ISKA concept i n Aus t ra l i a , As ia and the Sou th Pac i f i c .

D3 .610 . ISKA and the i r Aus t ra l i an l i censee GRL a re p romot ing separa te p rocess concepts .

However , i t seems tha t the two compan ies wou ld work toge ther fo r UK p ro jec ts ( see

GRL p rocess rev iew) .


D3.611 . The ISKA concept i s based on ae rob ic pe rco la t i on (see Annexe A fo r a more de ta i l ed

desc r ip t i on ) . I t has so fa r on ly been opera ted a t a p i l o t p lan t opera ted in Ravensburg

f rom 1996 to 1997 and a 30 ,000 Tpa demons t ra t ion p lan t i n Buchen (Baden-

Wür t temberg ) , Germany, wh ich we have been in fo rmed was opera ted f rom June 2000 to

November 2003 .

D3 .612 . In February 2003 T -P lus , the company tha t opera ted the demons t ra t i on p lan t a t Buchen ,

won an EU tender fo r a 15 year was te con t rac t w i th th ree reg iona l au tho r i t i es i n Baden

Wür t temberg , Germany. The con t rac t i s to bu i l d a 165 ,000 Tpa p lan t to hand le res idua l

MSW a t the Buchen s i te . Th is p lan t i s expec ted to s ta r t commerc ia l opera t ion in June o f

2005 u t i l i s i ng ISKA’s pe rco la t i on p rocess coup led w i th compos t i ng techno logy, supp l i ed

by VKW (see VKW process rev iew) , t o hand le the pe rco la t i on res idues . Ano the r ISKA

p ro jec t i s cu r ren t l y be ing bu i l t i n He i lb ronn , Germany, wh ich a lso uses VKW’s





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compos t i ng sys tem to t rea t the pe rco la t ion res idues . Th is p lan t w i l l a l so s ta r t

commerc ia l opera t ion in June 2005 .

Figure D144: ISKA’s reference plants

Location Plant Capacity, Tpa

Current Status Waste Treated Start-up (estimated)

Buchen, Germany 30,000 Residual MSW (no separate collection of organic wastes)

Demonstration plant operated from June 2000 to

November 2003

Sydney, Australia (as part of the GRL integrated process concept)

175,000 Mixed MSW 2004 - 2005

(in commissioning)

Buchen, Germany 165,000 Residual MSW January 2005

Heilbronn, Germany 165,000 Residual MSW March 2005

The colour coding system indicates plants currently operating ( ) and plants that are in commissioning, under construction, or in planning ( ), plant stopped ( ).

Source: Juniper analysis of ISKA information

D3.613 . The Aus t ra l i an l i censee GRL, has bu i l t t he i r f i r s t MBT p lan t us ing the ISKA perco la t i on

concep t i n Sydney as one e lemen t o f t he i r own separa te , i n teg ra ted p rocess concep t .

Th is u t i l i ses a s ign i f i can t l y d i f f e ren t mechan ica l p re - t rea tmen t sys tem to tha t be ing

imp lemented by ISKA in Germany. Th is €30 mi l l i on was te t rea tmen t fac i l i t y i s common ly

re fe r red to as UR-3R (Urban Resource - Reduc t ion , Recovery , and Recyc l i ng ) and i s

des igned to hand le 175,000 Tpa o f unsegrega ted MSW (see GRL p rocess rev iew) .

Figure D145: View of the ISKA demonstrator project in Buchen

Mechanical pre-treatment

Sedimentation tank

Anaerobic Digester

Inside of the percolation vesselMechanical pre-treatment

Sedimentation tank

Anaerobic Digester

Inside of the percolation vessel

Source: ISKA





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The Process

D3.614 . The ISKA p rocess has on ly opera ted to da te on German res idua l MSW. The was te feed

to the p rocess i s v isua l l y i nspec ted and ove rs i zed mate r ia ls a re removed f rom the was te

s t ream. The was te passes th rough a bag open ing s tage and then a t rommel , wh ich

separa tes the was te in to two s t reams: the ‘ s i ze cu t ’ used be ing dependent on the na tu re

o f the inpu t was te . The t rommel sc reen s i ze des ign fo r ISKA’s re fe rence p ro jec ts usua l l y

ranges f rom abou t 90mm to 120mm.

Figure D146: ISKA’s percolation process operated at Buchen

Source: Juniper’s representation of ISKA’s information

Oversizeditems to landfill

Residual MSW

Percolation & Hydrolysis Digester


Treatedwastewater

KEY Effluent Stream

Recyclables Further Upgrading

Trommel

Solids

Water

Air

DryingPress

Solids to further bio-stabilisation or for

use as RDF

The dotted lines above show processes planned for new projects.


Solids to RDF production or incineration

<120mm

Fe -metals

Sedimentation

press water

Separator

Solids

InertsFibre

Magnetic Separator

Residue Stream

Biogas to gas engines

Composting

>120mm

to landfillWaste gases

Solids to landfill

Mechanical Treatment

>60 mm <60 mm

Liquid effluent

Digested suspension

Magnetic Separator

Non Fe-metals

Oversizeditems to landfill

Residual MSW

Percolation & Hydrolysis Digester


Treatedwastewater

KEY Effluent Stream

Recyclables Further Upgrading

Trommel

Solids

Water

Air

DryingPress

Solids to further bio-stabilisation or for

use as RDF

The dotted lines above show processes planned for new projects.


Solids to RDF production or incineration

<120mm

Fe -metals

Sedimentation

press water

Separator

Solids

InertsFibre

Magnetic Separator

Residue Stream

Biogas to gas engines

Composting

>120mm

to landfillWaste gases

Solids to landfill


>60 mm <60 mm

Liquid effluent

Digested suspension

Magnetic Separator

Non Fe-metals





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D3.615 . The f i ne r ma te r ia l s ( i . e . t he sc reen unders i ze ) a re sen t to the perco la t i on p rocess a f te r

they have been sc reened by an e lec t romagne t separa to r , wh i le the sc reen overs i ze i s

d isposed to land f i l l o r compressed to make RDF (ca l l ed C-p lus by ISKA) a f te r a meta l

recovery s tage . A t the demons t ra t i on p lan t a t Buchen , the sc reen overs i zed mate r i a l s

were sen t to l and f i l l a f te r me ta l s recovery . ISKA in fo rmed us tha t the ove rs ize f rac t i on

ob ta ined f rom the new p lan ts be ing bu i l t a t Buchen and He i lb ronn , ‘w i l l be u t i l i sed in the

fu tu re in spec ia l i nc ine ra t ion p lan ts fo r h igh ca lo r i f i c va lue ’ . They fu r the r s ta ted tha t ‘ as

l ong as the re a re no such spec ia l i nc ine ra t ion p lan ts , the ove rs i ze w i l l go to no rma l

i nc ine ra t i on p lan ts owned by EnBW’ . No de ta i l s o f any ag reements to u t i l i se the RDF in

such fac i l i t i es were p rov ided fo r th i s rev iew.

D3 .616 . The pe rco la t ion p rocess i s opera ted in a con t inuous mode under ae rob ic cond i t i ons . I t

i s mechan ica l l y s t i r red to a id the t rans fe r o f f i ne o rgan ics f rom the so l i d was te to the

l i qu id phase. The ave rage so l i ds ho ld ing t ime in the pe rco la to r i s abou t 2 to 3 days and

du r ing th i s pe r iod , the pe rco la te ( l i qu id ) i s con t inuous ly rec i rcu la ted to i nc rease i t s

o rgan ic con ten t .

D3 .617 . When the perco la t i on p rocess i s comple te , the so l i ds remain ing in the pe rco la to r cou ld

be used to make RDF ( fo l l ow ing a de -wa te r i ng s tage) o r fu r the r b io -s tab i l i sed i n a

compos t i ng process . A t the two German fac i l i t i es cur ren t l y under cons t ruc t i on the so l i ds

w i l l be compos ted to meet the German AT4 l im i ts be fo re they a re l and f i l l ed . A t the UR-

3R fac i l i t y i n Aus t ra l i a i t has been s ta ted tha t the b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu ts a re to be used

as ‘ compos t ’ . We were i n fo rmed tha t a t the Buchen demons t ra to r p lan t , some o f the

pe rco la to r so l i ds were a l so b io -s tab i l i sed in a compos t i ng p rocess be fo re be ing sen t to

l and f i l l .

D3 .618 . The pe rco la te i s sen t to a sed imenta t ion tank where sand, g rave l , g lass and o the r dense

subs tances are separa ted and the over f l ow sent to the d iges te rs . The ine r t ma te r i a l s

re ta ined in the sed imen ta t ion vesse l a re removed and sent to l and f i l l .

Anaerobic Digest ion

D3.619 . The pe rco la te i s he ld fo r a mean res idence t ime o f abou t f i ve days to genera te b iogas .

The d iges te rs used by ISKA a re the up f low, expanded bed t ype , wh ich can ma in ta in a

l a rge concent ra t ion o f b iomass and thus inc rease the ra te o f was te d iges t ion a l l ow ing

shor te r hyd rau l i c res idence t imes .

D3 .620 . The repor ted b iogas y ie ld i s about 55 -65 Nm 3 /Tonne o f i npu t to the pe rco la to r ,

depend ing on the o rgan ic con ten t o f the inpu t . ISKA in fo rmed us tha t b iogas y ie lds o f up

to 90 Nm 3 /Tonne were reco rded f rom the Buchen demons t ra t i on t r i a l s when h igh o rgan ic

con ten t was te was u t i l i sed . The l i qu id f rom the d iges te r i s re tu rned as p rocess wa te r to

the pe rco la t ion vesse l and ISKA in fo rmed us tha t the p rocess i s se l f -su f f i c ien t i n wa te r

and does no t requ i re f resh wa te r i npu t a f te r s ta r tup . The b iogas p roduced a t Buchen

was c leaned be fo re be ing sen t to a gas eng ine (see the Output Ma te r ia ls sec t i on be low) .

Th is con f igu ra t ion fo r u t i l i s i ng the b iogas i s p lanned fo r a l l o f ISKA’s cu r ren t and fu tu re

p ro jec ts .





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Process Performance

D3.621 . Typ ica l i npu ts and ou tpu ts f rom the ISKA p rocess , as opera ted a t the Buchen

demons t ra to r p lan t , a re shown in F igure D147 . I t shou ld be no ted tha t ISKA d id no t

recover nonfe r rous meta ls such as a lumin ium and copper fo r recyc l i ng f rom the

unders i ze f rac t i on tha t i s sen t to the pe rco la t i on p rocess . Th is cou ld cause some i ssues

i f t he so l i ds f rom th i s pa r t o f t he p rocess a re to be used as fue l . However , ISKA

in fo rmed us tha t they w i l l ‘ t a i l o r ’ t he mechan ica l p re - and pos t - t rea tment equ ipment to

the t ype o f was te inpu t and the qua l i t y o f t he ou tpu ts requ i red . They po in ted ou t the

d i f fe rences be tween the mechan ica l p rocesses they a re imp lement ing in Germany to

t rea t res idua l MSW and the more ex tens ive mechan ica l p re - t rea tment sys tems be ing

used in Sydney by GRL to t rea t an unsegrega ted MSW input .

D3 .622 . F igu re D134 shows the t yp i ca l i npu ts and ou tpu ts f rom the p rocess conf igura t i on tha t

w i l l make ‘C -p lus ’ f ue l .

D3 .623 . Based on the da ta in F igure D147 and F igu re D148, 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 D149 w i th the re levant assumpt ions tha t have

been made in the ca lcu la t i ons .

Figure D147: Mass balance for the ISKA demonstrator operated at Buchen

Source: Juniper analysis of ISKA’s data

Waste Feed (100%)

>60mm to landfill (5.3%)

Bio-stabilised solids (34.2%)

Percolation

solids

(60.1%)

Undersized Fraction (<120mm)

(88.7%)

Waste gases(1.8%)

Oversized Fraction (>120mm)

(11.2%)

Waste gases (incl. water

vapour)(20.6%)


Percolation

Trommel

Fe & Non-Fe-metals (2.6%)

Metals Separation

Oversized materials to landfill (8.6%)

Biogas to gas engines(7.5%)

Metals Separation

Anaerobic Digestion

Composting

(54.8%)

Liquid effluent(19.3%*)

process water

* calculated by Juniper

Waste Feed (100%)

>60mm to landfill (5.3%)

Bio-stabilised solids (34.2%)

Percolation

solids

(60.1%)

Undersized Fraction (<120mm)

(88.7%)

Waste gases(1.8%)

Oversized Fraction (>120mm)

(11.2%)

Waste gases (incl. water

vapour)(20.6%)


Percolation

Trommel

Fe & Non-Fe-metals (2.6%)

Metals Separation

Oversized materials to landfill (8.6%)

Biogas to gas engines(7.5%)

Metals Separation

Anaerobic Digestion

Composting

(54.8%)

Liquid effluent(19.3%*)

process water

* calculated by Juniper





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D3.624 . The b iodegradab le conten t o f t he re levan t s t reams was no t p rov ided and hence we cou ld

no t de te rmine the ac tua l BMW d ive rs ion pe r fo rmance o f the ISKA perco la t i on p rocess .

D3 .625 . Never the less , i f b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu ts a re p roduced and sen t to l and f i l l i n accordance

w i th German AT4 requ i rements , then the BMW d ive rs ion f rom th i s con f igu ra t ion cou ld be

h igh (depend ing on whe ther th i s s t ream i s deemed to have a ze ro o r l ow BMW con ten t

fo r d i ve rs ion ca lcu la t i on pu rposes ) . The ISKA con f igu ra t ions tha t a re geared to

p roduc ing a so l i d fue l (RDF) fo r u t i l i sa t ion i n a combus t ion p rocess w i l l have a h igh

BMW d ive rs ion pe r fo rmance .

Figure D148: Typical inputs and outputs for ISKA’s current commercial configuration

Source: Juniper analysis of ISKA’s data

Operabil i ty and Availabi l i ty

D3.626 . ISKA in fo rmed us tha t the Buchen demons t ra t i on p lan t p rocessed abou t 12 ,000 Tpa and

opera ted fo r a to ta l o f abou t 1500-1700 hours pe r year . The amount o f t ime the

demons t ra t i on p lan t opera ted seems re la t i ve l y h igh fo r th i s t ype o f fac i l i t y compared to

the hours opera ted by t yp i ca l German commerc ia l was te fac i l i t i es (usua l l y abou t 15 h rs

pe r day fo r f i ve days pe r week) . The company exp la ined tha t a l though the mechan ica l

pa r t o f the p lan t a t Buchen was opera ted fo r 5 -6 hours pe r day to f i l l the pe rco la to r - t he

Bulky waste(1-3%)

Inerts to landfill (5-10%)

RDF, C-Plus

(44-62%)

Solids

Undersized Fraction (<150mm) (75-85%)

Waste- water(15-34%)

Press water


(5-7%)

Oversized Fraction (>150mm) (15-25%)

Waste Feed (100%)

Dewatered Solids (31-44%)

Press

Percolation/Sedimentation/Digestion

Trommel

Fe-metals (2-4%)

Magnetic separator

Oversized Materials (13-18%)

Biogas(4-7%)

Magnetic separator

Bulky waste(1-3%)

Inerts to landfill (5-10%)

RDF, C-Plus

(44-62%)

Solids

Undersized Fraction (<150mm) (75-85%)

Waste- water(15-34%)

Press water


(5-7%)

Oversized Fraction (>150mm) (15-25%)

Waste Feed (100%)

Dewatered Solids (31-44%)

Press

Percolation/Sedimentation/Digestion

Trommel

Fe-metals (2-4%)

Magnetic separator

Oversized Materials (13-18%)

Biogas(4-7%)

Magnetic separator





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perco la to r , d iges te r and wa te r rec i r cu la t i on sys tem were opera ted fo r ove r 5 ,000 hours

pe r year .

Figure D149: Diversion potential (by mass) of the ISKA process

Diversion potential Minimum, %

Maximum, % Basis of estimation

Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill as operated at Buchen (based on Figure D147)

c. 52 No RDF produced, all bio- stabilised outputs and rejects to landfill

Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill for process that makes C-plus fuel (based on Figure D148)

c. 25 c. 87 Min: does not include RDF to energy recovery

Max: RDF is used for energy recovery

Percentage of the input waste diverted from landfill for process that makes fuel and a bio-stabilised output (based on Option 3 in Figure D150)

c.50 c. 71 Min: does not include RDF to energy recovery. Bio-stabilised output to landfill

Max: RDF is used for energy recovery. Bio-stabilised output to landfill.

Note: This is total mass diversion not BMW diversion under UK diversion targets. No data was made available on the biodegradability of the process streams.


D3.627 . ISKA in fo rmed us tha t the re was no t enough was te ava i l ab le f rom the ‘Neckar -

Odenwa ld -Kre is ’ county , wh ich supp l ied the p lan t , t o u t i l i se i t s fu l l capac i t y . They a l so

exp la ined tha t some downt ime was exper ienced a t the demons t ra to r p lan t w i th e lements

o f the was tewa te r t rea tmen t sys tem tha t was emp loyed a t the t ime .

D3 .628 . ISKA in fo rmed us tha t the longes t pe r iod the who le p lan t opera ted on a con t inuous bas is

was fo r e igh t weeks o f t r i a l s du r ing wh ich t ime the p lan t p rocessed over 100 Tpd and

opera ted fo r seven days pe r week in two-sh i f t s . ISKA in fo rmed us tha t th i s was the

‘p rov ing ’ tes t tha t was requ i red by GRL to demons t ra te the techno logy p r io r to them

nego t ia t i ng a l i cense fo r the p rocess . A t the repor ted th roughput du r ing these t r i a l s , t he

p lan t wou ld have been opera t ing a t o r near i t s des ign capac i t y . However , we have no t

seen any ac tua l da ta to ve r i f y how much was te was t rea ted and the leng th o f t ime the

p lan t ac tua l l y opera ted .

D3 .629 . In w inn ing the con t rac t to expand the Buchen p lan t , i t can be assumed tha t the i r c l i en ts

a t Buchen were a l so sa t i s f i ed w i th the opera t ion o f the demons t ra t i on p lan t . The sys tem

needs to be fu r the r demons t ra ted on MSW in commerc ia l opera t ion be fo re we wou ld

regard the ISKA p rocess as be ing commerc ia l l y fu l l y p roven .


D3.630 . ISKA o f fe rs th ree d i f f e ren t con f igu ra t ions o f the pe rco la t i on p rocess . I n add i t i on to the

p roduc t ion o f b iogas , they can imp lement the fo l l ow ing op t ions :

Opt ion 1 - the p roduc t ion o f RDF b r ique t tes (ca l l ed ‘C -p lus ’ b r ique t tes ) f rom the t rommel ove rs i ze and so l i ds f rom the pe rco la to r ;





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Opt ion 2 - the p roduc t ion o f non-compac ted RDF (ca l l ed C-p lus ) us ing the same two s t reams as in Op t ion 1 ;

Opt ion 3 - the p roduc t ion o f RDF f rom the t rommel ove rs i ze and a fu r the r ae rob ic t rea tmen t s tep to s tab i l i se the so l i ds f rom the pe rco la to r ove r a pe r iod o f severa l weeks so tha t they mee t German AT4 l im i ts . The b io -s tab i l i sed so l i ds a re re fe r red to by ISKA as ‘Geos tab i l a t ’ . I n Sydney , GRL p lans to u t i l i se the b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t as ‘ compos t ’ and a fu r the r mechan ica l re f i n ing s tage fo l l ows the compos t i ng s tage .

D3 .631 . They p ropose to sc reen the b io -s tab i l i sed mate r i a l s and recover non-b iodegradab le

o rgan ics , wh ich they p lan to add to the coarse f rac t i on sen t fo r RDF p roduc t i on . Th is

con f igu ra t ion i s cu r ren t l y be ing bu i l t a t ISKA’s two new MBT p ro jec ts i n Germany.

D3 .632 . A summary o f the ind ica t i ve mass ba lances fo r these th ree p rocess op t ions i s l i s ted in

F igu re D150 .

Figure D150: Indicative mass balances for the three ISKA process configurations *

Materials Option 1,

% of input

Option 2,

% of input

Option 3,

% of input

Bulky materials, (rejects) 2 2 2

Fe-metals 3 3 3

Biogas 5 5 5

Waste gases (CO2 and evaporated water) 6 6 11

Wastewater for further treatment 33** 23 23

Inerts 11 6 6

RDF (C-Plus) 40*** 55 21

Stabilised output to landfill 0 0 29

Total 100 100 100

* Note: the data in this table is based upon German residual MSW

** reflects the water removed from the RDF via compaction

*** pelletised RDF- compaction removes water from the digestate and as a result lowers the RDF yield.

Option 1- producing RDF briquettes from the trommel oversize and solids from the percolator

Option 2- producing non-compacted RDF using the same two streams as in Option1

Option 3- the production of RDF from the trommel oversize and a further aerobic treatment step to stabilise the solids from the percolator.

Source: Juniper representation of ISKA data

Energy Balance

D3.633 . F igu re D151 shows tha t the ISKA p rocess i s a ne t energy p roducer . The p lan t under

cons t ruc t i on a t Buchen w i l l u t i l i se some o f the genera ted b iogas as pa r t o f the fue l f o r

the the rma l ox id i se r sys tem tha t i s requ i red to c lean up the o f f -gases so tha t they

comply w i th the l im i ts on TOC in the German 30 t h B ImSchV regu la t i ons . The b iogas





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consumed equa tes to a l os t e lec t r i c i t y p roduc t i on o f 34 kWh/T o f energy , wh ich cou ld

o the rw ise be ava i l ab le fo r expor t .

Process Scale

D3.634 . Each ISKA process modu le i s abou t 30 ,000 Tpa (based on a t yp i ca l German opera t ing bas is o f 16 hours pe r day, f i ve days pe r week opera t ion ) . Th is was the capac i t y o f t he p rocess modu le a t the Buchen demons t ra to r p lan t bu t th i s fac i l i t y was opera ted a t l ess than ha l f - sca le (see sec t ion on Operab i l i t y and Ava i lab i l i t y above) .

D3 .635 . The company in fo rmed us tha t they a re ta rge t ing a min imum p lan t s i ze o f abou t 72 ,000 Tpa , us ing two perco la to rs ( s ince abou t 80% o f the was te inpu t goes to the pe rco la t i on s tage) , and a max imum p lan t s i ze o f 200 ,000 Tpa . The p lan ts p lanned fo r Aus t ra l i a and Germany have capac i t i es o f 175 ,000 Tpa and 165,000 Tpa respec t i ve l y . Each o f the German p lan ts w i l l u t i l i se f i ve pe rco la t ion modu les and the Aus t ra l i an p lan t fou r modu les . The h igher p lan t capac i t y a t Sydney i s ach ieved by opera t ing fo r 24 hours pe r day, seven days pe r week .

D3 .636 . ISKA repor ted tha t the perco la t i on modu les were demons t ra ted a t the i r fu l l capac i t y fo r one e igh t week pe r iod o f t r i a l s . However , t hey d id no t supp ly ac tua l p lan t opera t ing da ta fo r th i s rev iew to con f i rm the ava i l ab i l i t y and opera t iona l re l iab i l i t y o f the i r demons t ra t i on p lan t . I n the absence o f th i s da ta , po ten t ia l c l i en ts wou ld have to sa t i s f y themse lves tha t the demons t ra to r p lan t has indeed opera ted a t a su f f i c ien t per fo rmance leve l .

Figure D151: Typical energy balance for the ISKA process being built at Buchen

Electrical energy required by plant

(c. 72 kWh/T)

Electrical output from biogas sent to gas engines

(c. 85 kWh/T)

ISKA’s Percolation System

Electrical energy equivalent of biogas used for thermal treatment of off-gases from the process*

(34 kWh/T)

* calculated by Juniper based on an electrical conversion efficiency of 40%

Net electrical output (c. 13 kWh/T)

Electrical energy required by plant

(c. 72 kWh/T)

Electrical output from biogas sent to gas engines

(c. 85 kWh/T)

ISKA’s Percolation System

Electrical energy equivalent of biogas used for thermal treatment of off-gases from the process*

(34 kWh/T)

* calculated by Juniper based on an electrical conversion efficiency of 40%

Net electrical output (c. 13 kWh/T)

Source: Juniper’s representation of ISKA data





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Output Materials

D3.637 . F igu re D152 l i s ts the p roduc ts and the quan t i t i es tha t cou ld be produced in the 30 ,000

Tpa p lan t us ing th ree d i f f e ren t con f igu ra t ions .

Figure D152: Products (Tpa) based on plant processing 30,000Tpa residual MSW

Products Based on mass balance from Buchen

as Option 2 as Option 3 Application

Biogas 2250 1500 1500 can be utilised in gas engines or in boilers

Metals 780 900 900 can be recycled

Inerts 1590 1800 1800 may be recycled but landfilling most likely

RDF none 16500 6300 market required

Oversized materials 2580 none none sent to landfill

Bulky wastes NR 600 600 sent to landfill

Wastewater NR 6900 6900 usually sent to sewer

Waste gases 6720 1800 3300 to bio-filtration or thermal oxidation before discharge to atmosphere

NR- Not Reported

Option 1- producing RDF briquettes from the trommel oversize and solids from the percolator

Option 2- producing non-compacted RDF using the same two streams as in Option1

Option 3- the production of RDF from the trommel oversize and a further aerobic treatment step to stabilise the solids from the percolator.


D3.638 . Biogas : The compos i t i on and energy con ten t o f t he b iogas produced i s repor ted in F igu re D153. A t Buchen, the b iogas was u t i l i sed in gas eng ines a f te r gas c lean ing . ISKA employed a b io log ica l gas c lean ing sys tem a t Buchen , wh ich u t i l i sed su lphur reduc ing bac te r ia to min imise the H 2 S con ten t o f t he b iogas . The sys tem was ma in ta ined a t a tempera tu re o f 25 -30 0 C us ing a hea t exchanger . We unders tand tha t the same gas c lean ing sys tem wi l l be emp loyed a t ISKA’s new p ro jec ts .

Figure D153: Biogas composition from the ISKA percolation process

Constituents Concentrations Total Biogas production rate

CH4, vol % 70

CO2, vol % 25.1

H2S mg/m3 16

Sulphur (total), mg/m3 32

Chlorine < 5

Fluorine < 5

Biogas CV c. 23.4 MJ/m3

55-65 m3/T

Source: ISKA





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D3.639 . RDF: Fo r Op t ions 1 and 2 desc r ibed above , ISKA p roposes to p roduce two t ypes o f RDF

(ca l l ed ‘C -p lus ’ fue l ) : a b r ique t ted mater ia l and RDF ‘ f l u f f ’ . To p roduce RDF br ique t tes ,

the so l i ds f rom the d iges t ion p rocess and the t rommel ove rs i zed mate r i a l s a re sc reened

to remove ine r t s such as sand and they a re then compac ted . These two RDF p re -

p rocess ing s tages wou ld reduce the quan t i t y o f l ow CV mate r i a l s and lower the mo is tu re

con ten t o f the RDF.

D3 .640 . In p roduc ing the RDF ‘ f l u f f ’ , no sc reen ing o r compac t i on i s ca r r i ed ou t . Th is ma te r i a l

t he re fo re conta ins a h igher pe rcen tage o f l ow CV ine r t subs tances and h igher mo is tu re

con ten t than the b r ique t ted RDF. Consequen t l y , t he mo is tu re con ten t and CV a re lower

tha t those fo r the RDF b r ique t tes . The h igher mo is tu re and ine r t ma te r i a l l eve ls i n the

RDF ‘ f l u f f ’ means tha t Opt ion 2 has a h igher y ie ld o f RDF than Op t ion 1 (see F igu re

D152) .

D3 .641 . The company p roposes to use the RDF mate r i a l s i n va r i ous combus t i on p rocesses such

as cement k i l ns . Un fo r tuna te l y , no da ta on the compos i t i on o f the RDF was p rov ided fo r

th i s rev iew and the re fo re we cou ld no t assess the qua l i t y o f th i s ou tpu t aga ins t marke t

requ i rements . I n Germany the RDF wi l l be requ i red to con fo rm to the spec i f i ca t ion fo r

use as an a l te rna t i ve fue l l a id down by the RAL GZ (see Annexe C2) .

D3 .642 . Bio-s tab i l ised Output : Fo r Op t ion 3 , ISKA p roposes tha t the so l i ds f rom the d iges t ion s tage wou ld be fu r the r b io -s tab i l i sed and pos t -sc reened to p roduce a b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t (ca l l ed ‘Geos tab i l a t ’ ) su i tab le fo r l and f i l l i ng in accordance w i th German land f i l l r egu la t i ons . We were in fo rmed tha t VKW wi l l supp ly the i r compos t ing p rocess fo r ISKA ’s two new p ro jec ts i n Germany . The VKW techno logy has been shown to be capab le o f b io -s tab i l i s ing was te to meet the German AT4 l im i ts . The re fe rence p lan t i n Aus t ra l i a i s des igned to p roduce a b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t , wh ich the opera to rs p lan to marke t as compos t ( see GRL p rocess rev iew) .

Envi ronmental Impact

D3.643 . Gas c lean ing: ISKA ’s new German re fe rence p lan ts w i l l each inco rpo ra te a the rmal

ox id ise r to t rea t a l l o f the o f f -gases f rom the p rocess . The p lan ts w i l l no t have b io f i l t e rs

and as a resu l t bo th p rocess o f f -gases and fug i t i ve emiss ions w i l l have to be t rea ted in

the the rmal ox id i se r , wh ich i s l i ke l y to be a regenera t i ve t ype des ign . Some o f the

b iogas p roduced in these p lan ts w i l l be d i ve r ted as fue l fo r the the rma l ox id i ser and the

regenera t i ve des ign w i l l m in im ise the energy usage o f the p rocess .

D3 .644 . Therma l o f f -gas t rea tmen t i s no t requ i red fo r the p lan t be ing commiss ioned in Aus t ra l i a

and may no t be requ i red fo r imp lement ing the p rocess in the UK (see Annexe B5) . Whi le

combus t i ng the was te gases has been shown to s ign i f i can t l y reduce the r i sks o f VOCs

and b io -ae roso l s re la t i ve to b io - f i l t ra t ion , i t s imp lementa t ion in t roduces add i t i ona l , and

poss ib l y s ign i f i can t , cap i ta l and opera t ing cos ts . The combus t i on p lan t m igh t a l so

s ign i f i can t l y i nc rease the v i sua l impac t o f t he p lan t and lower pub l i c accep tance in the

UK.

D3 .645 . Wastew ater : Wate r f rom the p rocess i s t rea ted th rough a se r ies o f s teps us ing s tandard

techno log ies , i nc lud ing den i t r i f i ca t i on , sand f i l t ra t i on and a f i b re separa to r . The





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c lean ing p rocess s ta r ts immedia te l y a f te r the pe rco la to r , where sand and f i b res a re

removed f rom the pe rco la te . A f te r the d iges te r , t he was tewate r i s passed th rough a

den i t r i f i ca t i on p rocess and reused as p rocess wa te r . ISKA s ta ted tha t excess wa te r can

be u t i l i sed fo r the compos t ing /s tab i l i sa t ion s tages , bu t i n the UK th i s t ype o f usage w i l l

have to comp ly w i th the UK ABPR requ i remen ts , i f t he b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu ts a re to be

used on land .


D3.646 . No da ta was made ava i l ab le abou t the land- take requ i rements fo r the ISKA perco la t i on

p rocess . We have a l ready men t ioned tha t the rma l o f f -gas t rea tmen t wou ld i nc rease the

v i sua l impac t o f t he techno logy i f t h i s aspec t o f t he p lan ts be ing bu i l t i n Germany were

to be imp lemented in the UK.

D3 .647 . The he igh t o f ISKA’s d iges te rs i s repor ted to be be tween 12 and 14 met res . The

d iges te rs w i l l be the ta l l es t i t ems on the p lan t fo r UK imp lementa t i on i f t he rmal

ox ida t ion o f the o f f -gases i s no t requ i red .

Costs

D3.648 . The company s ta ted tha t i n genera l the t rea tmen t cos ts (ga te fee) fo r the ISKA p rocess

wou ld be €70 / tonne inc lud ing the p roduc t ion o f a b io -s tab i l i sed ou tpu t tha t mee ts

German AT4 l im i t s bu t exc lud ing the cos ts o f d i sposa l o f t he b io -s tab i l i sed mate r ia l and

RDF. A t rea tmen t cos t o f 45 € / tonne (w i thou t any pos t - t rea tmen t o f t he ou tpu t f rac t i ons )

was a l so repor ted .

D3 .649 . Inves tmen t cos ts fo r a 150 ,000 Tpa p lan t have been es t imated to be abou t €40 m i l l i on ,

i nc lud ing ou tpu t b io -s tab i l i sa t i on .


D3.650 . We were p rov ided w i th i n fo rmat ion to compi le th i s rev iew in November 2004. A t the

t ime o f wr i t i ng the fo l l ow ing ques t ions rema in unanswered :

Actua l p lan t opera t ing da ta , showing to ta l opera t iona l hours , quan t i t y o f was te p rocessed and b iogas y ie ld ove r a su f f i c ien t pe r iod o f t ime;

I nd i ca t i ve compos i t i on and ca lo r i f i c va lue o f the ‘C -P lus ’ f ue l f rom the va r ious p rocess op t ions o f fe red by ISKA;

Land- take fo r the ISKA p rocess .





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Summary

D3.651 . There a re no ISKA MBT p lan ts cu r ren t l y i n commerc ia l ope ra t ion . The f i rs t p lan t us ing

the i r pe rco la t i on techno logy in a 3 r d pa r t y i n teg ra ted sys tem i s be ing commiss ioned in

Aus t ra l i a . The company has two new p ro jec ts underway in the we l l deve loped and ve ry

compet i t i ve German MBT sec to r , wh ich s igna ls some leve l o f con f idence in the

techno logy f rom bo th p rocess deve lopers and loca l au tho r i t i es .

D3 .652 . Th rough i t s ownersh ip , ISKA may have access to s ign i f i can t resources fo r the

deve lopment and imp lementa t ion o f the i r t echno logy, wh ich cou ld be advantageous in

secur ing con t rac ts fo r new p ro jec ts .

D3 .653 . A l though the co re pe rco la t i on p rocess i s repor ted to have opera ted a t i t s des ign

capac i t y i n an e igh t week t r i a l , no ac tua l pe r fo rmance da ta was p rov ided by the

company fo r th i s rev iew and the re fo re , we canno t comment fu r the r on the ac tua l

ava i l ab i l i t y and re l i ab i l i t y o f the co re pe rco la t i on p rocess . The fu l l opera t ion o f the f i r s t

f u l l sca le re fe rence i s there fo re awa i ted to demons t ra te the sa t i s fac to ry pe r fo rmance to

p rov ide the necessary con f idence in the techno logy.

This review was prepared in November 2004 from information provided by the company in mid-summer 2004 and in

November 2004. It was finalised in December 2004, following further clarification discussions with the process company. A

visit to the Sydney plant has not been undertaken because the process is being commissioned and the customer has

informed Juniper that full scale operation is currently scheduled for April 2005.