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water quality of Lake Champlain. Current work is focused on meeting new federal and state regulations regarding storm water collection and management. In addition to required process upgrades over the years, WWTF personnel were seeking energy conservation and efficiency projects to build budget capacity through reduced operating costs. As with most wastewater facilities, there are constant competing priorities for time and budget. By 2000, the WWTF was able to complete most of the energy efficiency recommendations made to the facility in a 1993 report, even while improving operations and treatment at the plant. Some examples of efficiency projects include o T8 lighting upgrades o Hot water management o Load shifting o Load shedding o Aeration blower variable frequency drive (VFD) o 3 Phase power conversion (VFD conversion from single phase to three phase power at point of application). Now the challenge became – how to achieve more cost savings beyond standard efficiency measures? Making the Case for Co-Generation Essex Junction WWTF personnel had been considering implementing a combined heat and power (CHP) system since 1992. Given the high initial capital cost, it simply wasn’t deemed cost-effective for the Village to pursue CHP at that time. The sewer facility governing board has a requirement that any energy-saving/cost-saving proposal have a simple payback of no more than 7 years in order to proceed. Moreover, since the project would be expending taxpayer dollars, municipal decision makers had to feel confident that the project would deliver the estimated savings. On the whole, municipalities tend to be highly risk-averse when making project and budget decisions, as they have to defend their decisions to entire communities. The Essex Junction WWTF used the waste methane gas to fire a boiler that provided process heat to the anaerobic digesters and flared any remaining methane. On an annual basis, only about 50% of the methane gas produced was utilized. Could the facility increase its overall efficiency by using more of its methane to generate power and heat, rather than flaring it as a waste? In order to estimate a payback period for the project, the Village of Essex Junction needed to know how much electricity generation they could achieve, given the facility’s treatment flow, amount of methane produced, and need for digester process heat. When methane is used as fuel for a CHP project, an important consideration is whether the process heat available after combusting the methane will be sufficient to maintain digester temperatures. Given Vermont’s cold climate, special attention had to be paid to the lower methane production rates in winter, coupled with the greater need for process heat in the winter. The WWTF hired an engineer to perform initial design work, cost estimates, and feasibility analyses. One of the first questions to consider was what type of electric generator to use: engine, microturbine, fuel cell, etc. While engines were considered, the microturbine was a preferred alternative since municipal personnel wanted to be sure that emissions from any newPDF Image | Turning Methane into Money: Cost-Effective Methane Co-Generation Using Microturbines at a Small, Rural Wastewater Plant
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