Brown and Caldwell Collaborates on Groundbreaking Waste-To-Energy Study
Oct 09, 2017
Department of Energy grant focuses on creating renewable fuels at wastewater treatment plants
Brown and Caldwell, a leading environmental engineering and construction firm, is playing an integral role on a national team that will plan for and design a pilot plant to produce clean hydrocarbon fuels at a municipal wastewater treatment facility. The project, funded by a Department of Energy (DOE) research grant and SoCalGas, and led by long-time research partner Water Environment & Reuse Foundation (WE&RF), will use breakthrough technology to produce fuels such as gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and renewable natural gas from wastewater solids.
The technology, called Hydrothermal Processing, converts waste solids from a wastewater treatment plant into biocrude oil and methane gas. The biocrude and methane replaces conventional oil and gas, providing green fuels with dramatically-reduced net new carbon emissions. The renewable methane gas can be used in the same ways as natural gas. Biocrude produced in the system will be refined in an existing refinery, while the methane gas will be sold for transport in the gas pipeline system or used onsite to offset needs elsewhere in the plant. In addition to producing renewable energy, Hydrothermal Processing has the potential to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions at wastewater treatment plants by replacing the anaerobic digesters.
Brown and Caldwell Vice President John Willis, a renowned expert in biosolids and energy recovery, will lead the BC team in quantifying the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions generated from the hydrothermal and bio-crude refining processes to help evaluate the potential for this clean renewable fuel under the federal Renewable Fuel and California’s Low-Carbon Fuel Standards.
"We are excited to be a part of this important work,” Willis said. "Demonstrating that we can convert wastewater solids into renewable hydrocarbon fuels, while replacing fossil fuels and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, would transform wastewater treatment.”
According to another team member, DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Lab, if the process is fully implemented in wastewater treatment facilities across the United States, the technology could produce more than 2 billion gallons of gasoline and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 million tons per year.
This summer, the DOE will validate the consortium’s concept of the technology. A nine-month feasibility study will follow and if results are promising, the design and construction of a pilot plant could begin in 2020.
Willis, who currently serves on WE&RF’s research council, has spent over 25 years helping municipal utilities develop innovative solutions to combat inefficiency and maximize energy use. His groundbreaking work includes the first Class-A thermophilic anaerobic digestion facility in the United States, innovative Class-A digestion and biogas-to-vehicle-fuel upgrades, as well as the application of thermal hydrolysis/digestion/gas-use for DC Water, Hampton Roads Sanitation District in Virginia, the city of Raleigh Public Works Department in North Carolina, and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission in Maryland.
Other members of the consortium include Genifuel Corp. with technology from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Merrick and Co.; Sempra Energy’s Los Angeles-based Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas); Texas-based Tesoro Corp.; Metro Vancouver; MicroBio Engineering, and over a dozen utility partners. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District in the San Francisco Bay Area will host the pilot system.
More News and Articles
Jul 24, 2024
News
UK utilities place multiple orders for settlement tank technology
Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, and Dŵr Cymru upgrading wastewater sites
Three UK water utilities have agreed orders for the installation of a total of six conical settlement …
Jul 22, 2024
Article
Reusing wastewater, rethinking water: Maharashtra's roadmap
How Maharashtra turns wastewater into a resource
Water resource management is a critical issue globally, and in India, the state of Maharashtra is pioneering efforts to regulate and …
Jul 19, 2024
News
Kansas City advances fire hydrant leak detection technology
An acoustic fixed-base pipe monitoring technology that uses fire hydrants to host multi-sensor devices, has already found more than 30 leaks for Kansas City Water, says Lou Rossetti …
Jul 17, 2024
News
When two bores right a wrong
The Edge Underground team is adamant: there is always a risk of things going wrong on a trenchless project, even for the most prepared contractor.
Experience and having the right equipment can be the difference between …
Jul 15, 2024
News
Adapting to a region’s growing water and wastewater needs
Gippsland Water has completed two major projects to provide local communities with water security. Trenchless Australasia takes a look at the two projects helping increase water supply …
Jul 12, 2024
News
Connections made in Glastonbury
Difficult ground conditions called for a specialist solution when new PE pipes for potable water services had to be installed underneath two, 10-metre road crossings in the grounds of the UK’s ultimate music festival …
Jul 10, 2024
Article
The Water-Energy Nexus: Interdependence and Challenges
Niclas Andersson, CEO of AirWater2All, explains the connection between water and energy. The importance of this connection and the areas in which it needs to be considered are explained …
Jul 08, 2024
News
Minimising cultural impacts with trenchless technology
Yarra Valley Water is leveraging the benefits of trenchless technology to lessen impacts on the Upper Darebin Creek branch sewer project.
The project consists of building a 2.7km sewer pipe …
Jul 05, 2024
News
SprayWall: Reinforcing Underground Infrastructure with Unmatched Strength
In the trenchless technology industry, finding a rehabilitation solution that offers ease of installation and exceptional structural integrity is paramount.
For three decades, …
Jul 01, 2024
News
“Don’t let stereotypes hold you back”
Trenchless Australasia sat down with Rob Carr project manager Marie Piette to discuss her career and work at the microtunnelling contracting company.
From Norway to Cambodia and now Perth, Western Australia, …
Jun 28, 2024
News
Transforming Wastewater: Towards Climate-Neutral Sewage Treatment
Baden-Württemberg’s Minister President Winfried Kretschmann recently toured the Büsnau Training and Research Sewage Treatment Plant, where a pioneering project led by researchers …
Jun 26, 2024
News
Bothar advances with significant new contracts
Having commenced work on the Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline earlier this year, Bothar Boring and Tunnelling has announced the award of further contracts as part of its ongoing collaboration with …
Contact
Brown and Caldwell
Diana Leonard
201 North Civic Drive, Suite 300
CA 94596 Walnut Creek
Phone:
+1 925 210 2216
Fax:
+1 925 937 9026