Waste Recycling and Energy

The EnviroForensics® /Arcient® team of diversified engineers, scientists, regulatory specialists, and finance managers are well versed with current waste-to-energy technologies to turn municipal solid waste, hazardous waste, and special waste into energy and safe, vitrified recycled building material.

In regard to municipal solid waste, valuable recycling materials such as paper, glass, cans and metals can be separated, recovered and recycled, while the balance of the material is processed by a pyroloysis gasification process using plasma and other high temperature technologies to convert the waste material into synthesis gas (which in turn is used to produce steam, electrical energy, and chemicals) and vitrified slag (which in turn can be used as construction and building materials). If feed material contains high sulfur, it could be recovered in an elemental form or as acids or fertilizer.

Staff engineers are experienced in material handling, thermal conversion, and power generation, which are the key components required for designing recycling and energy facilities. EnviroForensics® /Arcient® engineers can team with financial experts to find funding sources for: Designing and building facilities, negotiating permits, power purchase and solid waste supply contracts, as well as, for maintaining and operating the long term production of power and recycled material.

Primary Service Areas

• Siting
• Permitting
• Material Recycle and Recovery Facility
• Material Handling
• Thermal Conversion Systems
• Recycling Facilities
• Power System Design
• Client Assistance During Construction
• Operations and Maintenance

Siting

Staff members have considerable experience in siting solid waste management and energy generation facilities. Evaluation and economic analysis of candidate sites rely on the systematic application of selection criteria: Defining site geology, evaluating the potential for negative environmental impacts, and identifying other development constraints. Staff engineers have developed a rating system that is used to rank potential sites. The rating system includes some of the parameters noted below.

• Water Resources
• Electrical Transmission
• Water Discharge
• Gas Transmission
• Number of Parcel Owners
• Available Transmission Capacity
• Environmental Receptors
• Historical Areas
• Local Land Use Plans
• Available Gas Line Capacity
• Parcel Size
• Air Permitting Issues
• Zoning
• Visual Impact
• Constructability
• Demographics
• Tax
• Access for Construction
• Sensitive Receptors
• Local Support/Opposition
• Other Minor Permits

Permitting

Staff members are well versed in permitting requirements for power generation and solid waste handling facilities. We have accumulated thousands of hours of experience in negotiating permits and providing required information to various federal, state, and local agencies. Permitting expertise covers many types of water, air and land permits.

• NPDES discharge
• Wastewater pretreatment
• NPDES construction and industrial storm water
• Permits to construct in wetlands or Waters of the United States (401, 404)
• Dam safety permits for retention reservoirs
• Air permits include:
• Title V
• Prevention of Significant Deterioration
• New Source Review
• Solid waste permits include:
• Development
• Operating
• Land use
• Grading
• Drainage and erosion control
• Fire and building
• Other municipal and state permits

Material Recycle and Recovery Facility

EnviroForensics® /Arcient® staff is capable of designing Material Recycle and Recovery Facilities (MRRF) to recover paper (news paper, cardboard, mixed paper, etc), glass (amber, green, and/or flint), cans (aluminum, ferrous, bimetal) and plastics (PET, HDPE, PS, PVC, PP, LDPE etc) as well as other items. MRRFs can be designed to operate manually (low-tech) or mechanically (high-tech) or be a combination of the two or be a fully automated separation. Manually operated facilities provide employment opportunities in local communities while fully automated systems are more efficient and effective in separating materials. EnviroForensics® /Arcient® staff engineers work with municipalities to develop systems that are acceptable and suitable to communities and are effective for achieving recycling goals. When one accounts for different types of materials in a recycling program, various methods of segregation, and various means and methods of collection, and processing, the combinations and permutations seem endless and confusing. EnviroForensics® /Arcient® staff brings to the clients specific expertise to evaluate the optimum method for a given community based upon population, geographic location, and proximity to markets. EnviroForensics® / Arcient® staff works closely with municipal clients to assist them in developing and implementing a broad recycling strategy.

Material Handling

EnviroForensics® /Arcient® staff is capable of specifying and designing sorters, shredders, and screens to separate solid wastes into combustibles and noncombustible feed stock. Combustible material consists primarily of paper, wood, food wastes, agricultural wastes, and yard wastes. Non-combustible material consists primarily of metals, glass, and debris. With knowledge of the waste characteristics, overall system processing rates, redundancy requirements, space availability, sensitive areas of operations and operating philosophy, engineers design a suitable waste handling and separation system for individual projects. Depending upon the processing rate, engineers evaluate the need for two feed lines versus a single feed line to reduce capital and operating costs. Staff members work closely with the reputed equipment manufacturers to ensure that systems are reliable, durable, and require low maintenance.

Thermal Conversion Systems

Based on the type of waste materials to be managed, engineers work closely with the client and selected technology vendors to assist clients in system implementation. Because waste characteristics vary considerably within communities and industries, engineers assist clients in a pilot testing program to develop a reliable system and appropriate design criteria. The system also contains synthesis gas (Syngas) conditioning processes. These processes include cooling, scrubbing, particulate filtration and other processes required to condition the gas so that it is suitable for feeding gas turbines. Engineers are experienced in designing air pollution abatement systems including scrubbers, filters and heat exchangers. Based on the gas characteristics and turbine feed requirements, engineers assist clients in designing suitable scrubbers, coolers and particulate separators such as cyclones, bag houses, electrostatic precipitators, and more. If Syngas contains high sulfur, EnviroForensics® /Arcient® engineers will work with sulfur recovery system vendors to recover sulfur either in its elemental form or in the form of acids and fertilizers depending upon the market demand and economics of the process.

Power System Design

EnviroForensics® /Arcient® engineers have provided many power utilities with engineering and consulting services for expansion,modernization, or consolidation of existing systems or for the creation of new power generation systems.

Client Assistance During Construction

In order to translate the high quality of EnviroForensics® /Arcient® design work into successful projects, the firm also offers a variety of services during construction. Engineers successfully provide clients with a wide range of services during construction projects; projects may range in the area of a few thousand dollars for construction costs to multi-phased projects that cost several million dollars.

• Assistance in bid evaluation
• Shop drawing review
• Construction inspection
• Quick resolution of field issues such as design clarifications of field engineering
• Equipment inspection, as required
• Expediting
• Procurement assistance
• Provisions for on-site materials testing capabilities
• Maintenance of complete project files including design modification submittals
• Preparation of a completion report documenting project compliance with design and regulatory requirements
• Assistance during commissioning and start-up

Operation and Maintenance

Staff engineers have developed operation and maintenance procedures for wastewater treatment and remedial systems for clients such as municipalities, industry, and superfund sites.With staff members that have over 20 years of experience in the designing, construction, and operation and maintenance of a variety of facilities, EnviroForensics® /Arcient® provides large scale Operation and Maintenance services. These capabilities encompass the preparation of Operation and Maintenance manuals, training client staffs, and managing the contracting of needed operation and maintenance services. Clients benefit from a single point of contact for operation and maintenance management responsibilities that include the development of functional specifications, performance specifications, startup specifications, and full-scale operation and maintenance plans.