Residual Organic Wastes to Bioenergy

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Objective(s)

The objective of this Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) project is to develop technologies meeting Canadian economic, climatic, and regulatory conditions that can be used alone or in combination to recover/optimize energy recovery from residual organic wastes. This project will support the production of bioenergy from residual (opportunity) wastes from municipal, agricultural, and industrial sectors. The efficiency of existing technologies will be increased and the management of materials and energy that cannot be recovered by conventional means optimized.

Description

Currently residual Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is disposed in landfills with or without energy recovery, industrial and Municipal Waste Water (MWW) in municipal wastewater treatment facilities, and agricultural waste directly on land. Although progress has been made in the recovery of some materials and energy, there is still a substantial portion that is considered a liability to our health and environment. As a result, the potential market for technology options for the production of bioenergy from waste and efficient waste management strategies are of significant interest. This project consists of a combined effort of municipal, agricultural, and industrial sector resources and expertise to enhance Research and Development (R&D) and the recovery of value products. Project activities include:

Pilot Plant at Sherbrooke, Quebec


Enerkem Technology
Photo credits: Enerkem

• Advanced Thermal Conversion
  This activity consists of producing a feasibility assessmentment for the use of Enerkem's fluidized bed gasification technology as a disposal means for Edmonton's MSW. Initiatives will be focused on feedstock evaluation and synthetic gas production. Feedstock will be analyzed physically, characterized, and further subjected to lab and pilot scale gasification tests to determine the suitability for energy conversion. A synthetic or syngas will be generated (hydrogen-rich) for the production of steam and/or electricity. Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) pellets will be used as the baseline test for syngas production. A pilot scale fluff feeding system will also be assembled and used for the testing of fluff RDF. Preliminary results are promising indicating stable syngas quality and reduced emissions.
   
• MSW Residual Waste Workshops This activity consists of organizing informative and interactive workshops and distributing promotional material to advance energy recovery from MSW with a focus on bioreactor landfills, thermal treatment, Anaerobic Digestion (AD), mixed waste composting, and sanitary landfills. This activity will provide the waste management industry with information on existing and emerging residual treatment technology options with a focus on energy recovery and GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction. An additional initiative of this activity will consist of examining five technology options for MSW.
   
• MWW Direct Drive Biogas Utilization
  Direct drive equipment, in which engines operating on biogas directly run pumps or air blowers, is an efficient and economically viable method for utilizing biogas energy for wastewater treatment plants. An economic feasibility assessment (testing and optimization) of using anaerobic digester biogas to fuel direct drive equipment at Canadian wastewater treatment facilities will be produced as part of this activity. Additional initiatives include the development of full-scale costing data for direct drive energy recovery units operating on digester gas and the development of a technology transfer program to communicate the results of the study to other Canadian municipalities and their consultants.
   
• Agricultural AD Test Facility
  Different feedstocks produce different amounts of gas and determining the gas output for any given proposed recipe of feedstock would be essential in designing a full-scale plant. A pilot scale AD facility will be constructed and tested at the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) to test different agricultural feedstocks maximizing energy production. This activity consists of constructing a pilot biodigester and launching AD field trials.
   
• Industrial AD Test Facility
  A pilot scale AD facility will be constructed and tested at the NRC-Biotechnology Research Institute (NRC-BRI) to test different industrial feedstocks maximizing energy production.

The PAMI Pilot Scale Anaerobic
Digestion (AD) System

A further initiative consists of carrying out Measurement and Reporting Plants (MRP) consisting of on farm digester GHG analyses for four AD systems. LandFill Gas (LFG)/biogas catalyst testing, manure digestion, and waste pretreatment for ethanol production will also be carried out.

A challenge of this research is overcoming public perception of waste as an energy feedstock as there is resistance to use wastes to produce energy particularly at municipal levels. This may potentially become an issue at the farm level if farms begin to transport co-substrates for digestion. Additionally, since work carried out through this project can be classified as waste treatment, nutrient management, or energy production, difficulty resides in determining leadership roles particularly at the federal level. A better understanding of the current and future availability of waste resources, technology advancements, barriers (political, social, financial, and market), biosecurity and regulatory implications, health related issues, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)/GHG analyses is required.

Significant Outcomes

Research acquired from this project will provide waste producers options for bioenergy production. The technologies under investigation are at a critical point of transition between R&D and commercial application and this project will provide key data and knowledge to advance their development. Technologies developed will reduce GHG emissions, air pollution, and ground water contamination, and produce renewable energy at reduced costs. Preliminary results indicate that bioenergy production from wastes will be technically and economically feasible despite certain non-technical barriers impeding its wide application in Canada.