HomeMy WebLinkAbout8.a. Report on Olmsted County Mass Burn TripWe're burning to have a better future.
There was a time — just a few decades ago — when the Earth's resources
seemed infinite. We used them and often abused them freely.
There was another time — just a few years ago — when most of us realized
abruptly how untrue that was. Some of us reacted with a sense of hopeless-
ness and doom.
Today we are entering a period of maturity and wisdom about our enAron-
ment. We know that damage has been done; but we also know that much can
be undone and that much future damage can be prevented. We are coming to
understand our stewardship and responsibility toward the planet on which we
live. And we are teaming how to carry out our responsibility.
Olmsted County's Waste -to -Energy project and its recycling center are one
way of doing that.
• We are making use of a resource we once regarded as simply "garbage"
• We are generating power without tapping our limited resources of coal
and oil
• We are cleaning up our air
• We are reducing the eyesore (and "nose -sore") of landfills
• We are keeping landfill pollutants from poisoning our ground water
Our Waste -to -Energy plant is perhaps the 40th such facility built in the United
States, and one of about 1500 in the world. As this brochure was being written,
dozens more waste burning plants were under construction.
A project like this relies on science, technology, business, government and
you — the individual - if it is to do its part in keeping the environment healthy.
The key to cleaning up the
environment is probably under
your kitchen sink right now.
It's easy to recycle. Here are the materials our recycling center can
handle, and some tips on how to prepare them.
Aluminum — Everything should be clean and dry.
(beverage cans You may crush the cans if you prefer.
& aluminum foil) — No steel or tin food cans
Newspaper — Tie it with twine or put it in grocery bags
— No glossy, colored paper or magazines
— Paper should be clean
Glass — Remove all metal and caps
(clear, brown — Do NOT crush
or green)
Corrugated
cardboard
Office/white
paper
—.Break boxes down flat
— Bundle like newspaper
How to reduce the
waste stream.
• Avoid disposable, convenience items
• Buy products without bulky, obvious,
unnecessary packaging
• Look for products that are recyclable,
repairable or longer -lasting
• Reuse containers wherever possible
• Allow grass clippings to return to the
soil Compost leaves and kitchen scraps
• Use sheets of paper on both sides
• Tell your friends!!
Project Team
Olmsted County Board of Commissioners
Douglas A. Krueger, Chairperson
Harley Boettcher, Commissioner
James M. Daley, Commissioner
Carol Kemper, Commissioner
William Pudwell, Commissioner
Richard G. Devlin, County Administrator
Charles R. Michael, P.E., Project Manager
Consulting Engineer
HDR Techserv, Inc.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
James W. Booty, P.E., Project Manager
Floyd J. Forsberg, P.E., Program Manager/Ltason
Major Equipment Suppliers
Riley Stoker Corporation, Worcester,
Massachusetts
Takuma Company, Ltd., Osaka, Japan
Murray Turbomachinery, Burlington, Iowa
Indeck Power Equipment, Wheeling, Illinois
GEA Power Cooling Systems, San Diego,
California
Engineered Crane Systems, Alpharetta, Georgia
Webb Material Handling Equipment, Chicago,
Illinois
B 6 S Miljoteknik, Aarhus, Denmark
Facility Constructor
M. A. Mortenson Company
Minneapolis, Minnesota
i)Olmsted
Waste-to-Eneray
2128 Campus Drive, S.E.
Rochester, MN 55904
(507) 285.8231
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Garbage doesn't belong in the
environment. Instead, we burn it
for energy.
Now garbage is energy. Light. Heat. Power. Steam to keep Olmsted Commun-
ity Hospital's patients warm. Electricity to light the county human services
campus.
Now Olmsted County Waste -to -Energy is making non -recyclable garbage
useful by burning it under high-tech conditions to generate energy.
We're still recycling things like aluminum, glass and several types of paper (a
big new recycling facility operated by Ability Building Center is part of the
Olmsted Waste -to -Energy project). But all the rest of Olmsted County's non-
toxic refuse goes into the combustion chamber. Every ton of "useless" trash
we burn is 4,500 pounds of coal that won't have to be mined. Garbage doesn't
belong in the environment. Instead, we burn it for energy.
But that's not even the best part.
The best part is what we're not doing with garbage. We're not dumping it into
landfills anymore, where its residue seeps through fractures in the bedrock to
poison our groundwater. We're not blighting the landscape with it. We're not
wasting it.
Olmsted Waste -to -Energy Facility.
Olmsted Waste -to -Energy (and YOU)
can clean up our landfills and help
preserve Minnesota's resources.
In 1983, it became apparent that the Olmsted County landfill was nearing its
capacity and that an alternative would have to be found. Groundwater prob-
lems made another landfill one of the least desirable options. We looked at
other methods. But in the end, the Waste -to -Energy option had three clear
advantages. It was clean. It cost less to operate than a landfill. Arid it produced
an easily useable end product.
Olmsted Waste -to -Energy:
a tour of the campus and the plant.
1. Olmsted Recycling Center
When individuals and hauling companies come to the Olmsted Waste -to -
Energy Facility, their first stop is likely to be the recycling center, located on the
northeast edge of our 20 acre campus.
Ability Building Center, which has long been a major recycler, operates the
center for Olmsted County.
The center is presently set up to recycle:
• Three colors of glass (clear, green and brown) • Cardboard
• Aluminum • Computer paper
• Newspaper • Ledger paper
There's also a document destruction service for businesses and government
agencies. Up to 20% of everything brought to the Olmsted Waste -to -Energy
Facility can be recycled.
About 50% of this 19,000 square foot building is devoted to the recycling
process itself. Trucks and cars unload on the east side; the recyclable
materials are crushed, shredded, baled, etc.; then semis pull up to the loading
dock on the west side of the building to take them to a variety of markets.
An almost equally large area is devoted to shredded paper and baled card-
board storage. ABC sells this material in local markets for animal bedding.
Since the bedding need is seasonal, a lot of off-season storage is needed.
The smallest section of the building contains lunchroom and rest areas for
center employees and (very important) a redemption center where you're paid
for your recyclable goods.
2. Our wooded campus
Our campus looks like a park. Grassy meadows and hundreds of mature
hardwood trees were left undisturbed in the building of the plant; and where
we did have to disturb the natural growth, we replaced it with new landscaping.
Look up. The air above our "park" is clear. On a cold day, you'll see vapor
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rising from the stack, but usually you'll see nothing. Most pollutants are either
burned up by the high temperatures the plant generates or are caught in the
electrostatic precipitators. The remaining low level emissions are clear.
3. The weigh station
Commercial haulers stop here to have their trucks weighed; the scale auto-
matically records the weight and the hauler's account number for billing.
Individuals with cars, trucks or trailers of trash stop here to pay, just as they
used to do at the county landfill.
4. The plant
A. TIPPING HALL — Refuse trucks enter through the west door, back up to
one of five openings and tip their loads into the storage bunker. Then they
drive out through the east door. The doors open automatically when sensor
coils detect an approaching truck.
Only commercial trucks ever enter the tipping hall. Cars, pickups and trailers
leave their refuse in another area outside the plant.
B. STORAGE BUNKER — The bunker is 30 feet deep, 55 feet wide and 110
feet long, and holds up to 200,000 cubic feet or 1,300 tons of refuse (that's
100% of the refuse generated in Olmsted and Dodge Counties in an average
week and a portion of the refuse from Wabasha and Goodhue Counties).
During the Summer months, about 250 tons of refuse is brought in each day.
In Winter, about 160 tons.
Since the plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the bunker will
never actually fill up. The extra capacity allows operation to continue on
weekends and holidays.
Visitors comment that the lack of odor and dust is a pleasant surprise. That's
because the combustion air for the boiler is pulled across the bunker by the
forced draft fan beneath the combustion chamber; the odors and dust are K. CHIMNEY
actually burned.
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The average person throws away 4 pounds
of garbage a day. That adds up to almost
1500 pounds a year!
C. CRANE AND GRAPPLE — High above the storage bunker, a huge grapple
is suspended from a six-ton bridge crane. The crane travels from one end of
the pit to the other as the grapple descends to take bites of the stored
materials.
The grapple's jaws measure 18 feet across when open and can grasp more
than four cubic yards of material at a time. The grapple feeds one of the two
furnaces every four to five minutes.
In between furnace feedings, the operator uses the grapple to mix the mate-
rials in the pit, making sure that everything gets properly mixed for even
heat content distribution.
There are actually two cranes and two grapples, each with its own set of
controls. The second system is primarily used as a backup, although both
furnaces can be stoked at once during peak periods (a lockout keeps the two
grapples at least five feet apart). If a third furnace is added, both systems will be
activated.
D. CONTROL ROOM — High above the bunker, an operator guides the
movements of the crane and grapple from a central control room equipped to
monitor and manage the entire operation.
The operator positions the crane; automatic controls raise and lower the
grapple and work its jaws.
Dozens of remote monitors allow the operator to observe everything from the
furnace fuel chutes to the weigh station outside the plant (if necessary, the
operator could control the truck scales).
The operator carefully observes the contents of the grapple and the pit. If the
operator spots an item which may be unacceptable to the system, the grapple
is directed to deposit it in the loadout at the far end of the building. Here, it can
be inspected more closely and, if necessary, hauled to a landfill or a scrap
dealer.
E. FUEL LOADING CHUTES — The grapple releases its load of refuse,
which falls 26 feet down the water cooled chute into the combustion chamber.
Lasers monitor the level in the chute and tell the operator when another load is
needed.
There are two chutes (one for each furnace), which the operator feeds
alternately.
F. COMBUSTION CHAMBER —As materials fall, four nickel -chromium alloy
reciprocating grate sections tumble them for more efficient burning. As it
passes over the first two grates, the refuse is warmed and dried by heat rising
from the combustion chamber. At the third grate, the majority of combustion
occurs. The fourth, or burnout, grate moves the ash and residue into the
removal system below the furnace.
200 tons of refuse per day — 8.34 tons per hour — tumble into the chamber
for burning. With temperature computer -controlled at a nearly constant 1800
degrees F, combustion efficiency is ensured.
Our Waste -to -Energy plant is the first in the nation to have Takuma's Auto-
matic Combustion Control. This microprocessor -based system has three
important, related benefits. Because it constantly monitors and reacts to
conditions in the chamber, burn levels always remain at maximum efficiency,
steam pressure and flow are constant and (because of the efficient burning)
gasses such as carbon monoxide do not escape up the stack in large
quantities.