ReVenture Park Waste to Energy Facility to Utilise Gasification Technology

15 December 2010 Charlotte City Council, North Carolina has voted to change its 10-year plan for handling solid-waste - a key step for the ReVenture Park waste to energy facility. The project is hoping to transform a 667-acre Superfund site along the Catawba River in Charlotte, NC, into the region’s first Eco-Industrial Park. Forsite Development, lead developer for ReVenture Park says that it will utilize a gasifier designed and commercialized by ICM, Inc. combined with the dual field Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP-2F) technology from Eisenmann for emissions abatement. The ReVenture Waste to Energy (WtE) project has two major components. A Recycled Fuel Facility is being developed in partnership with Charlotte based FCR Casella, the sixth largest recycling firm in the U.S. and the operator of Mecklenburg County's recycling centre for the past 15 years. This $30 million facility will take Mecklenburg County's residential garbage through a highly automated process that will remove additional recyclables and the materials that would cause air pollution such as PVC, electronics and batteries. The remaining 'non-recyclable' material is shredded into an engineered fuel that transforms garbage into a ' Recycled Fuel' for use as the primary feedstock for ReVenture's WtE facility. This fuel will then be delivered to ReVenture where it will fuel the ICM gasification system producing 20 MW of clean electricity. The material will be fed into chambers that will convert the fuel into a syngas in a high-heat, low-oxygen environment. The facility will use ICM's gasification process to convert feedstocks into syngas that can be easily converted to electricity. The Eisenmann Wet Electrostatic Precipitator WESP-2F removes pollutants to the sub micron level providing excellent emissions abatement and meeting minor source permitting targets. http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/waste-to-energy.html The company says that advantage of utilizing this technology, is the ability to begin with cleanly engineered fuel (not raw garbage) and subsequently gasifying the material in lieu of burning. ReVenture claims that the gasification system offers a solution that is projected to double Mecklenburg County's recycling rates (raising them potentially as high as 40%), diverting over 85% of the current waste stream from going to the landfill, and creating enough electricity to power approximately 20,000 homes. "For our WtE facility, we have set a goal of achieving a minor source air permit. The combination of starting with a clean fuel, and then utilizing gasification, will allow us to achieve this goal," said Tom McKittrick, President, of Forsite Development. "The EPA is considering changes in the air quality requirements for WTE power plants and the ReVenture WTE project is being designed to comply with the newer and more stringent regulations. The combination of ICM's gasification technology and Eisenmann's WESP-2F helps us meet the new regulations." After a recent 9 - 2 vote by Charlotte city council giving approval to the park, Democrat Patrick Cannon said the project was consistent with the city's goal of becoming a green-energy leader, and similar projects are already operating in Europe. Republican Andy Dulin said the project was being supported by private dollars and should be backed.