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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0342.001 2010-2012BRENDA J. FORD Council Member District 7 - Central Kona September 7, 2011 Phone: (808) 323 -4277 Fax: (808) 329- 4786 E -Mail: bford @co.hawaii.hi.us HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL County of Hawaii West Hawaii Civic Center 74 -5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy. Kailua -Kona, Hawaii 96740 To: Dominic Yagong, Chairperson And Committee Members of the Hawai`i County Council From: tenrenda J. Ford Council Member, District 7 Subject: Waste Refinement, LLC Power Point Presentation _c Lrl The attached "Waste Refinement Power Point Presentation" is a copy of the presentation by Waste Refinement, LLC. Please distribute copies to each Committee Member and the appropriate staff. Mahalo. cc: Jeannette Aiello, Committee Services Laura Murashige, Executive Assistant to the Chair BJF /lw Serving the Interests of the People of Our Island Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Comm. No. 3 11.7 Ref. To: Pi EM Ref. Date SEP 2 0 2011 rtiorair WASTE REFINEMENT © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 WASTE REFINEMENT Waste Refinement, LLC was formed in 2010 as a collaborative effort of several long term existing businesses with expertise in waste management, environmental, alternative energy, and commercial product projects. The executives of Waste Refinement have been involved in their respective fields in excess of 40 years. Waste Refinement's mission is to evaluate and select technologies for development which serve to utilize conventional waste as a raw material in the production of fuel and other useful products. After extensive collaboration, the company was formed to utilize the respective expertise needed to develop Waste Refinement Facilities. The intent of the company's involvement in Hawaii is to convert the existing municipal waste stream into organic biochar that would then be used as a fuel source for the island or as an ingredient or other useable product. The specific process being proposed to convert certain waste and non -waste materials into a fuel, ingredient or other useful product is low temperature pyrolysis. The proposed Waste Refinement facility will reduce the island's dependency on landfills and promote better use of its resources. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 1 ww WASTE REFINEMENT The presenters to the environmental committee on September 20, 2011 will be: Dr. Rick P. Harding - Technical Director of Waste Refinement, LLC Scott Thornton - Director of Marketing Waste Refinement, LLC Robert D. Sheehan, Esq.- General Counsel Waste Refinement, LLC Richard Nelson- Director of Hawaii Operations Waste Refinement, LLC Dr. William Steiner -Dean of the College of Agriculture University of Hawaii. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 •00 WASTE REFINEMENT Large Scale Pyrolytic Commercial Application Pyrolysis: Pyrolysis is a technology developed during World War II to convert coal into liquid and gaseous fuels. The process involves the heating of feedstock to temperatures of 400 TO 600 degrees Fahrenheit in a low oxygen environment. The resultant mixture of gas and organic biochar. Unlike combustion, pyrolysis conserves carbon as organic biochar 1 © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 2 Fuel Oils Gasses H2O 11 Pyrolysis Reactor' Shredded Solids Cooling Screw Drive Motor Organic Biochar 3 Waste Was Sep- rolysis 4 • WAST REFINEMENT Commodities oft I 0 Organic BioChar Burns cleaner than coal BTU's equivalent to coal Non - hazardous material Soil amendment/fertilizer Could replace HELCO diesel Hydrogen /Methane Off gas capture Used to power the plant Scrubbers, negatave air pressure, complete compliant pollution controls Plastic, Glass, Metal, Rock Add to a successful program Capture the recyclable materials An addition to already established community recycling efforts The County could sell the recyclable materials to existing processors Fertilizer /Roads Organic fertilizer Soil amendment Pavement additive Less reliance on synthetic chemicals Team with the University for ideal mixtures Made from MSW in Hilo WASTE REFINEMENT The Hilo Green Energy Park Concept Bringing Hawaii's Green Community Together © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 5 WASTE REFINEMENT Immeasurable Benefits to the County Extension of the use of the current landfill without shutting it down and experiencing its related closure costs Eliminate the need and related costs associated with the acquisition and operation of a new landfill © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 WASTE REFINEMENT Measurable Benefits to the County Participating in the proceeds produced from materials reclaimed from the current landfill as well as, the day to day waste stream produced on the Island. Possibly reclaim materials from existing abandoned landfills as well Eliminate the costly process of hauling waste across the Island © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 6 WASIE . J + REFINEMENT Societal Benefits to the County Creation of new jobs for County Residents Creation of construction jobs during the facilities build out Contribution to "Zero Waste" and Sustainable Goals of the County /State Facility to include on -site use of wind turbines and solar energy for partial reduction in plant energy usage, creating a renewable energy park for educational opportunities for the island youth If Biochar is used for power generation, then a reduction in foreign oil consumed on the Island will be experienced, along with added environmental benefits If Biochar is used for Hawaii's Agriculture Sector, a reduction in the acquisition costs of fertilizer will be experienced by the growers © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 7 Sufficient space for our technology 9 WASTE- - REFINEMENT Waste Refinement will build a minimum, 100 ton per day capacity plant at your Hilo Sort Center Your existing space, your MSW and our know how © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 10 WASTE REFINEMENT Question: What emissions are released during the process? Response: From the pyrolysis units there are three flue gases discharged as three distinct enclosed streams. The first stream consists of air and water vapor and the other two streams are mostly fuel gasses, which will be combined and fed as fuel to a combustor. This part of the system will consist of a combustor, waste heat boiler, dry gas scrubber for acid gas removal and dust collector for particulate removal. Through this process, the gases will be cooled to approximately 360 degrees Fahrenheit and conveyed to a dry scrubber before discharge to the atmosphere. The plan is to have the total process [i.e., unloading Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) through to product shipment] housed within a building or other enclosure under a slight negative pressure to prevent odors from escaping to the outside. Also, building air will be routed to the above -noted burner system as combustion air to destroy odor and capture dust (i.e., particulate). © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 % WASTE REFINEMENT Question: Can these emissions (off gasses) be used here on the island for any purpose? Response: The short answer is essentially no. However, the methane generated by the landfill can be captured and used as fuel for the plant or other purposes. Also, there is some energy recovery associated with the process as follows. A waste heat boiler and dry gas scrubber will be combined with the combustor. The combustion of the fuel gasses will occur in the burner and the resulting hot gasses will enter the combustion chamber. The air /water vapor system will also be introduced into the combustion chamber immediately downstream of the burner. All gases will be mixed to ensure complete combustion and will be retained in the combustion chamber at conditions ensuring high combustion efficiency. The gases will then exit the combustor and pass into the waste heat boiler /heat exchanger which will be of the water tube type consisting of three sections resulting in steam production that can be used to generate electricity. As such, there will be some energy recovery capability for the plant. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 11 •• WASTE REFINEMENT Question: How much Hydrogen and Methane will be developed in a day where 100 tons of organic waste is processed? Response: The design goal is to capture all process gasses for treatment prior to discharge to the ambient air consistent with regulatory requirements. The specific amount of hydrogen and methane generated by pyrolysis is dependent on the characteristics of the feedstock. The pyrolysis being employed is often referred to as "slow pyrolysis" compared to "flash pyrolysis" or "gasification pyrolysis" where the yields for hydrogen and methane are generally greater compared to "slow pyrolysis." © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 REFINEMENT Question: Will there be any smoke or air pollution? Response: Smoke will not be produced under normal operating conditions. However, should smoke be generated, the process is enclosed and the building will be under a slight negative pressure so that the particulate (i.e., smoke) will be captured and removed by the air pollution control equipment. Please note, however, that water vapor will be emitted from the process in the form of steam, which may be visible at certain times. Even using the Best Available Control Technology (BACT) or Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) or other equivalent environmental regulatory standard, some air pollutants will be emitted to ambient air from the discharge side of the air pollution control equipment (fugitive emissions are mitigated by the slight negative building pressure). Please also refer to the responses to Question Nos. 1 and 3 regarding the air pollution control processes. In short, the limited emissions will be compliant with the applicable environmental regulations. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 12 WASTE REFINEMENT Question: How much noise will the machinery make including the shredding process? Response: Sound levels within the plant, outside the building, and at the site perimeter will need to be controlled pursuant to local codes and the applicable environmental and occupational health and safety standards. As such, as part of the facility design, the applicable standards will be used to derive the appropriate sound (i.e., noise) abatement measures (i.e., sound proofing, etc.) needed to be complaint with regulations and be a good neighbor to others. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 *P ' WASTE REFINEMENT Question: Will operations to mine the existing landfill run during the night hours? Response: Mine operating hours will be determined collaboratively with local authorities and the community at -large based on the mutually- derived goals as to how much of the landfill is to be reclaimed in what period of time. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 13 WASTE REFINEMENT Question: What will the impacts of your operation be for our local neighborhoods? Response: The impacts are expected to be beneficial to the local neighborhoods by working cooperatively with local recycling and other businesses and organizations to create the organic rich feedstock needed for the plant. There will be engineering controls in -place to prevent unacceptable air emissions, odors, noises, and runoff from affecting neighbors. The expectation is that the traffic will be essentially equivalent to that associated with the current landfill (i.e., trucks delivering waste to the plant instead of the landfill). However, there will be additional traffic associated with the transportation of the products for use on the island and elsewhere. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 WASTE REFINEMENT Question No. 9: How much land do you need to establish your facility? Response: For a 100 ton /day MSW processing facility about 10 acres would be required. However, 15 to 30 acres would be a better planning range to accommodate future expansion of processing capacity to include addition of other technologies to the energy park. ()Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 14 W WASTE .0 REFINEMENT Question: Can the rock from the landfill be reclaimed and used? Response: Yes, the rock can be segregated, evaluated, and then reused. Question: How will you dispose of those items you cannot process? Response: In addition to sanitary wastes, some wash waters which cannot be reused in the plant will be discharged to a sanitary sewer. Also, as part of facility design, a waste composition audit will be performed to determine the actual materials to be received and processed. The goal of the facility is to process or otherwise utilize all of the MSW. However, there will be a yet to be determined residual fraction that will require disposal in some form. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 WASTE REFINEMENT Question: Will an EIS be required and are you prepared to handle that? Response: We expect that independent of any specific statutory or regulatory requirement, an EIS would well serve the stakeholders including the community at- large. Hopefully, the community and regulators will be active participants in assisting with completing the EIS and expediting the process so as to not delay the development of the park. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 15 W' WASTE .0 REFINEMENT Question: Will there be additional traffic problems associated with your operation? Response: The expectation is that the traffic will be essentially equivalent to that associated with the current landfill (i.e., trucks delivering waste to the plant instead of the landfill). However, there will be additional traffic associated with the transportation of the products for use on the island and elsewhere. A specific traffic study has not been completed but it is expected that one will be required associated with an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) or other such regulatory requirement. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 •W' WASTE REFINEMENT Question: Does your organic bio char burn cleaner than other fuels? Response: Since the raw material for the biochar has been processed to remove the metals, it burns cleaner in terms of mercury, sulfur, and other pollutants compared with natural coal. Further research would be required to ascertain if there are reliable published values for combustion products for other fuels compared specifically to Biochar. Question: Can liquid fuel burning energy generation facilities be converted to solid fuels? Response: Generally yes; however, the cost to retrofit a facility may or may not be economically desirable. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 16 %."*". WASTE REFINEMENT Question: Does Biochar burn slower or hotter than wood or other bio mass products? Response: Biochar burns most similarly to eastern bituminous or western sub - bituminous types of coal. There are a wide variety of biomass types of fuels that are in the gaseous, liquid and solid state with very different physical properties and associated BTU values. Certain gaseous biomass products burn with a higher BTU value than Biochar and others burn at lower values. Question: Is Biochar safer to transport than Bio Diesel? Response: Biochar is a non - hazardous solid material and Bio Diesel is a liquid fuel. As such, Biochar is inherently safer, in that, it is easier to contain. For example, if you spill Biochar on the ground the material can simply be picked up from the surface without the concern that you would have with a liquid infiltrating into the subsurface and causing environmental contamination. © Waste Refinement. LLC 2011 WASTE REFINEMENT Question: Can Biochar be shipped throughout the islands without a hazard to the environment? Response: Biochar is safe to transport, especially in comparison to liquid petroleum fuels. Question: Is Biochar really coal? Response: Biochar is not really coal. Coal is actually a carbonaceous metamorphic rock formed by heating and pressurizing variously altered plant remains. The differences in the plant materials and the degree of metamorphism are used in classifying coal. Biochar is generated by low temperature pyrolysis using Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) as a feedstock. The color of the Biochar and its heating values are similar to certain types of coal which is why some people have called this material synthetic coal. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 17 WASTE REFINEMENT Question: Can Bio Char be used in the agriculture industry? Response: Yes, Biochar alone or in combination with other additives can be used as a soil amendment and /or fertilizer. Question: Will large amounts of dust and particulate be in the air around your operations? Response: No. Particulate matter (dust) will be managed using engineered controls to include having the building under a slight negative pressure to contain particulate matter. Question: Will your project have negative impacts on existing recycling businesses? Response: No. To the contrary, our plan is to partner with existing recycling and other businesses and organizations as part of the overall process of creating the organic -rich feedstock needed for the plant. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 V. WASTE REFINEMENT Question: What kinds of co- generation will your energy park incorporate into its operations? Response: As such, other technologies such as solid fuel cells will be evaluated and developed as the park evolves to ultimately be not only energy independent but to provide a meaningful surplus of energy. Our expectation is to form a collaborative relationship with the community and educational institutions to develop these next generation technologies for incorporation into the park. Question: Can your operation sustain its own energy requirements? Response: Generally speaking, the process is expected to provide 40% or more of its energy needs solely by virtue of utilizing the process off-gases as fuel. Use of the Biochar as a fuel for the plant can be used to produce the remaining power the facility requires, subject to the cost of electricity and other financial considerations. © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 18 • , WASTE REFINEMENT Question: If harmful elements are processed along with the organic waste, will there be emissions of those when Bio Char is burned? Response: Generally no because the subject elements will be emitted from the pyrolysis reactors and not retained within the Biochar. Question: Will there be negative effects to any workers from breathing dust from Bio Char? Response: As with any particulate source, the plant will be designed to have engineering controls in -place to minimize the presence of particulates in the plant air and assure compliance with the worker health and safety standards established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and /or other applicable regulations. Question: What is the actual conversion rate of organic waste to Bio Char? Response: Generally speaking, the conversion rate is approximately 43% of the RDF is converted to Biochar (i.e., the RFD is the MSW minus the recyclables, inert materials such as soil or rock, and any other non - organics). © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 %000 WASTE .0 REFINEMENT Question: Could your technology eliminate the need to transport refuse from remote locations to a central processing (landfill) in Hilo or Kona? Response: Individual waste refinement plants can be constructed near source areas. There are economies of scale associated with the throughput from an energy balance point of view and construction and operating costs. As such, the more tons of MSW processed per day the better. Question: Can you use green waste and bio mass to create Bio Char? Response: Yes, you can use a mix of forest litter or agricultural waste with biomass. Question: Do the source materials determine the quality of the Bio Char as a fuel? Response: Yes, to a certain extent. For example, an organic risk feedstock consisting of 12% or so of plastics will result in a Biochar which is of larger size than without the plastic (i.e., less surface area). Overall, the chemical quality will be similar in terms of carbon content and other constituents. ©Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 19 %""0' WASTE REFINEMENT WASTE Mf © Waste Refinement, LLC 2011 IRFEVAIOrlit 20