Viridors 154m Gasification, Biogas and Recycling Facility Underway in Glasgow

Construction work begun on the foundations of Viridor’s £154 million recycling, biogas and waste to energy gasification facility in Glasgow. The company said that prior to being able to get the ground works underway two iconic 66 metre tall reinforced concrete chimney stacks which have towered over the Polmadie waste site for the last 55 years, had to be demolished. To achieve this, the stacks were ‘nibbled down’ using a 250 tonne long reach excavator with breaker attachments. Once complete it is anticipated that the Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC) will process some 200,000 tonnes of municipal waste each year, using a variety of technologies. Construction work on the site is being undertaken by Interserve Construction How it will work Viridor explained that once operational Glasgow City Council refuse collection vehicles will deliver domestic green bin waste to the site’s fully enclosed reception hall incorporating the latest noise and odour control mechanisms. From there the company said that the waste will be processed in a Smart Materials Recycling Facility (SMRF), which will separate the waste to recover anything that can be recycled. Next food and organic waste will be tackled, removing it from the waste stream for conversion into biogas for energy generation through anaerobic digestion. Finally, the residual waste which cannot be recycled will be diverted from landfill and sent to the advanced conversion waste gasification facility, which according to Viridor will recover enough for around 22,000 homes - saving Glasgow 28,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. The gasification plant will thermally treat the RDF from both the S-MRF and AD plant, and will incorporate three identical gasifier lines. RDF from the S-MRF and dried digestate from the AD facility will be mixed in a common fuel bunker to provide a homogeneous feedstock, which will be fed to the gasifiers to produce syngas for subsequent combustion in a thermal oxidiser. Hot flue gases from the thermal oxidiser are passed to a boiler to raise superheated steam for use in a turbine and generator set to produce electricity for export to the National Grid. Laying the foundations Getting work underway at a recent ‘sod cutting’ ceremony on the site leader of Glasgow City Council, Gordon Matheson Gordon Matheson joined Viridor UK engineering director, Alan Cumming, Scottish regional manager, Steven Don, Interserve associate director Bryan Kennedy and construction apprentices Peter Duffy, Josh Eadie and Joseph Smith (pictured). With work on the foundations now in progress, Viridor explained that the project has now entered a ‘piling’ phase - inserting 12 metre concrete columns into the ground to provide strength and support to the facility’s base before erection of the steel framework commences in March 2014. “Our ambitious programme of community benefits is already making a real impact - from city-wide education programmes supporting science and engineering, and over £5 million of sub-contract opportunities available in the coming months to local businesses, to a broad range of routes into work on this landmark project,” commented Cumming. Bryan Kennedy said: “Over 11,000 cubic metres of rubble from the former building and chimneys has already been recycled on site to form the foundations of the GRREC.” Viridor added that development will bring more than 250 new jobs to Glasgow, support apprenticeship places and will p deliver a saving to Glasgow of 90,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. Work on the facility is due to be completed in 2016. Read More Viridor's Gasification, Recycling and Biogas Plant Approved in Glasgow Viridor's plans for a £154 million recycling, biogas and gasification waste to energy facility in Glasgow have been given the green light. Engineering Services Contract for Glasgow's Waste Gasification Plant Energos has selected Atkins to help deliver a waste to energy gasification facility as part of Viridor and Glasgow City Council's £146 million Glasgow Recycling Peterborough Waste to Energy Plant to be Equipped by B&W Vølund Danish waste to energy technology developer Babcock & Wilcox Vølund – a part of the Babcock & Wilcox Company (NYSE: BWC), in cooperation with Berkshire based construction company, Interserve has signed a contract with Viridor for the supply of new plant for the incineration of around 85,000 tonnes of waste per year for Peterborough City in the UK.