U.S.‐CHINA ECOPARTNERSHIP PROGRAM In June 2008, the United States and China signed a “Ten Year Energy and Environment Cooperation Framework” agreement that set goals and established concrete action steps for cooperation
on environmental issues. The cooperation framework was structured to foster extensive collaboration over a ten-year period that addressed the interlinked global challenges of environmental
sustainability, climate change, and energy security. As a significant part of this plan, the EcoPartnerships program, was launched in December 2008 to encourage voluntary cooperative partnerships between the two countries at the sub-national level to involve private businesses, subnational governmental entities, educational institutions and non-profit organizations. The goal of
the U.S.-China EcoPartnerships program’s is to establish multiple cooperative relationships between Chinese and U.S. partners to facilitate sharing best practices of economic growth and environmental sustainability. EcoPartnerships focus on one or more of the following goals: Clean air;
clean water; clean and efficient transportation; clean, efficient, and secure electricity production
and transmission; conservation of forests and wetlands ecosystems; and energy efficiency.
Entry into the EcoPartnerships program is competitive and participants are selected by the joint
approval of the U.S. Department of State and the China National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC). Seven partnerships were inducted into the program at its inception and on
May 10, 2011 six additional partnerships (out of 31 applicants) were inducted into the program at
a signing ceremony at the Department of State presided over by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Vice Chairman of the NDRC, Xie Zhenhua (Figure 1). The Secretary’s Special
Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs, Reta Jo Lewis, has direct responsibility for
the U.S. program.
The Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership was conceived when U.S. Ambassador to China, Jon
Huntsman, and Shawn Hu, Managing Director of Honde, Environmental, LLC in China and
formerly with the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development, worked to promote the
sister state/province agreement signed in 2010 between Utah state and Qinghai province. Under
Mr. Hu’s guidance, several parties in Utah and Qinghai have come together to form the UtahQinghai EcoPartnership.
The U.S. EcoPartners include: Andigen (anaerobic digesters to produce biogas), ADTechnologies (biogas conditioning), Ceramatec (biogas reforming to syngas and Fisher-Tropsch
systems), Cosmas (Fisher-Tropsch catalysts to convert syngas to liquid fuels), Organic Energy
Corporation (municipal waste mining), Sustainable Energy Solutions (carbon capture and sequestration, and MetalloSensors (hand-held mercury detection). The U.S. EcoPartnership also
includes active support of the state of Utah, Provo City, Utah County, Utah Valley University,
Utah State University, Brigham Young University, and the University of Utah. The China Eco-
Partners are lead by Honde Environmental with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuxi and Xining,
and the Qinghai provincial government, Xining City, Qinghai University and Qinghai Normal
University. Outside of the official Qinghai EcoPartnership, partnerships exist with the Jinshan
District of Shanghai and Wuxi City. The objective of these partnerships is to implement multilevel cooperation between the United States and China, promote intellectual property protection,
and lead in the development and implementation of clean technologies.
FIGURE 1. ECOPARTNERSHIP SIGNING CEREMONY, TREATY ROOM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE The Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership fosters U.S.-China sub-national cooperation in both the private and public sectors on environmentally important issues. Its flagship project is a biomass
waste-to-energy process which transforms biomass such as animal manure, human waste, agricultural waste, food processing waste, slaughterhouse offal, municipal waste, etc. into valuable
liquid fuels (diesel & gasoline) or electricity. The first phase of a demonstration project has been
built in Shanghai city’s Jinshan District. Other green technologies include, carbon capture and
sequestration, municipal waste mining (recycling), industrial site soil remediation and hand-held
mercury contamination detection. ECOPARTNERSHIP ACCOMPLISHMENTS Jinshan Biogas Demonstration: The Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership is pursuing the goals of the
national program through a multi-faceted combination of technology and cultural exchanges.
Most visible, is the first phase of the
Jnshan District waste-to-energy project,
built in early 2011 (Figure 2). It is located on a 500-cow dairy in the Jinshan
District of Shanghai. The manure and
urine collected at the dairy, are
processed through the twin Induced Bed
Reactors (IBR) developed by Andigen,
Inc. of Logan, UT. These digesters produce an estimated 21.5 cubic meters of
biogas per day per ton of manure. The
biogas is primarily methane (~75%)
FIGURE 2. JINSHAN ANAEROBIC DIGESTERS AND GAS CONDITIONING with carbon dioxide and water with a DEMONSTRATION SITE.
small amount of hydrogen sulfide,
which must be removed before the gas can be used. (Hydrogen sulfide will generate sulfuric acid, which is very corrosive.) The “sour gas” is cleaned by a zeolite-based system developed by
AD Technologies, Provo, UT. It removes the hydrogen sulfide to below 50 parts per billion.
The “sweet gas” currently fuels a boiler located at the dairy. The project was built, and is being
managed, by Honde Environmental in collaboration with Andigen and AD Technologies. On
April 14, 2011 Utah’s Governor Gary R. Herbert was hosted at the site by Jinshan District Mayor
Zhao Fuxi (Error! Reference source not found.), where they jointly initiated operation of the system
and signed a mutual cooperation agreement.
The next phase is to develop the Fisher-Tropsch system to convert the biogas into liquid fuels
(gasoline & diesel). A prototype demonstration system will be built at the Provo City Water Recovery Facility that has an operating
anaerobic digester, but the biogas is currently being flared off. The project will
be implemented through the cooperative
efforts of Provo City, Cosmas, Ceramatec and AD Technologies with financial
support from Jinshan and Honde Environmental. After this prototype is operational, the system design will be upgraded and “ruggedized” for standalone operation, and a unit will be fabriFIGURE 3. GOVERNOR LUO AND GOVERNOR HERBERT VISITING THE JINSHAN DEMONSTRATION PROJECT
cated and delivered to the Jinshan dairy
demonstration site.
Wuxi Soil Remediation: A second technology demonstration project was also completed within
the year. Honde Environmental licensed a technology from the University of Utah to clean organic chemicals from the soil of a contaminated industrial site. The soil remediation process,
Heightened Ozonation Treatment (HOT), was used in a demonstration project to clean up a vacated industrial site on the shores Wuxi City’s Lake Taihu. The HOT process makes use of expanding micro-bubbles to disperse soil aggregates to facilitate ozone oxidation and removal of
the chemical contaminants. The contaminated soil or water is placed in the HOT treatment vessel
and an ozone/air mixture is injected and the mixture is stirred while it is subjected to successive
compression and instantaneous decompression cycles (Error! Reference source not found.4). The
pressure cycles create a copious amount of gas bubbles that expand violently from the smallest
nano-micro sizes to millimeter sizes. This action bursts open the soil aggregates and exposes the
contaminants to the dissolved ozone. Concurrently
the abundant gas-liquid interfaces on the bubbles
act as tiny reactive centers that collect the contaminants where they are also destroyed by the gaseous ozone in the bubbles. HOT’s expanding
bubble technology offers speed and effectiveness
never possible before in remediation. Now that the
technology has been demonstrated at full scale for
the first time, it will be used as a very attractive
alternative to incineration to remove dioxins,
FIGURE 4. THE HOT PROJECT IN WUXI
PCBs, pesticides and other significant toxic contaminants. Educational Exchanges: The EcoPartnership has also initiated a book exchange. English texts
and books have been donated to Qinghai universities to assist in English instruction. Two visiting scholars from Qinghai University will spend a year in the research laboratories of Brigham
Young University and the University of Utah starting November 1, 2011. Several students from
Brigham Young University and the University of Utah have served internships in Xining, Beijing
and Shanghai. A formalized intern recruitment program has recently been inaugurated, and high
school student exchanges are being arranged.
Government Involvement: The Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership has also pursued its goals by garnering political support and integrating its actions with governmental entities. On July 13, 2011
Utah’s Governor Herbert signed a reaffirmation agreement of the sister state/province agreement
with Qinghai Governor Luo Huining during the visit of the Qinghai delegation to Utah (Figure
55). Several additional agreements were also signed, including a Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership
three-year cooperative action plan, a cooperation agreement between the Utah EcoPartners and
Xining City (capital of Qinghai), a sister university agreement between Qinghai Normal University and Utah Valley University and a cooperation agreement between Utah County and Xining
City. Governor Gary R. Herbert also signed a declaration, declaring July 13-15, 2011 as “UtahQinghai EcoPartnership Days.”
The Qinghai government continues to support the EcoPartnership as shown in the following
statement taken from an internal “Red Letter” document signed by the Qinghai governor:
“…In order to assist the Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership in successfully achieving
their goals, all functioning departments and major cities are required to proactively support the Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership by enhancing organization and
coordination, creating a better atmosphere for cooperation and development, further encouraging cooperation in additional areas, and by specifically including
the Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership in individual action plans….”
He also awarded a grant of 2 million RMB (~$300,000) to initiate activities within Qinghai to
support the Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership initiatives.
FIGURE 5. UTAH’S GOVERNOR HERBERT AND QINGHAI’S GOVERNOR LUO SIGNING THE THREE‐YEAR ACTION PLAN THE FUTURE Green Towns: The EcoPartnership will launch its “Green Towns” initiative in February 2012. It
will be repeated twice each year. Mayors from 60 towns and small cities in China will visit Utah
for three weeks to study community management with an emphasis on prosperity, sustainability
and environmental issues. The group will tour several towns/cities in Utah and a few in California. A theme for each town will be presented in morning sessions, followed by afternoon site
visits. Local authorities, experts and practitioners will be recruited to make the presentations and
lead the discussions and site visits.
Topics such as the following will be covered:
• City Planning
• City Management
• Environmental Care
- Clean water
- Clean air
- Food safety
- Municipal waste management
- Waste water management
• Ecotourism
• Alternative/Renewable Energy
• Social Management
- Welfare
- Volunteerism
- Recreation, parks, etc.
The Vision: The Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership hopes to become the model of sub-national cooperation by promoting an innovation and technology transfer system, fostering new eco-friendly
industries, and implementing new technology demonstration projects such as the biogas-to-liquid
fuels (BTL) project. Profitability of the enterprises and close cooperation between the U.S. and
Chinese counterparts will be the keys to its success.
Following the successful demonstration of the Jinshan BTL project, the EcoPatnership plans to
implement a second demonstration project in Qinghai and then expand through controlled
growth from these two centers to create BTL “communities” which will be monitored and maintained by a joint venture between Honde Environmental and the four Utah companies. Six potential projects located in Qinghai Province are currently under evaluation. One will be selected for
the initial demonstration project, but may be chosen to demonstrate a different biomass source
such as at a slaughterhouse or hog farm, and scaling up to a larger plant is also being considered.
The Utah-Qinghai EcoPartnership is looking for opportunities to utilize its leadership to enable
new technologies and to address new environmental issues. Sustainable Energy Solutions and
Organic Energy Corporation are examples which were recently added to the partnership. The
EcoPartnership invites others to join its efforts to expand its reach, improve its effectiveness and
develop lasting relationships.
Expanding Membership: Three additional companies have recently joined the Utah EcoPartners
bringing technologies for municipal solid waste mining for recycling with up to 93% recovery,
carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and heavy metal (mercury) detection.
The Organic Energy Corporation (OEC) is an advanced municipal solid waste mining organization. Their process removes valuable recyclable material (e.g. glass, plastics, metals, etc.) from
the waste, and separates the remaining waste into dry and wet organic material, and inorganic
material. The dry organic material is reprocessed to form a fuel that can be burned in a boiler or
used in gasification or pyrolysis. The wet organic material is a feedstock for Andigen’s anaerobic
digesters and BTL.
Sustainable Energy Solutions (SES) is developing a method to separate the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) from power plant emissions. The process, Cryogenic Carbon Capture (CCC),
cools the flue gas to CO2’s desublimation temperature. The CO2 solidifies and is removed from
the lighter gases such as nitrogen. It is then compressed to a liquid for transportation. This
process also has potential to remove harmful pollutants such as H2S, HCl, and mercury, thereby
reducing the need for additional flue gas cleanup equipment.
MetalloSensors in collaboration with Honde Environmental of China has created an inexpensive
hand-held method for mercury detection. The current method to check heavy metal levels in water involves performing an expensive and time-consuming procedure in a lab usually far from the
water source. A novel fluorescence quenching technology is being adapted to a hand-held device which can be used in the field to give immediate results. Methods for additional heavy metals will be developed in the future.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEWS Biomass‐to‐Liquid Fuel The four original members of the Utah EcoPartnership, Andigen, AD Technologies, Ceramatec
and Cosmas, comprise a sub-organization, the Utah Clean Tech Alliance (UTCA). They are collaborating to develop a BTL system that can be located close to various sources of biomass and
thus be made available to the community at large. The process of converting organic gases (coal
gas, natural gas or biogas) to liquid fuels is a mature technology at the very large scale. For example, SASOL operates a plant in South Africa that produces ~200,000 barrels of fuel/day from
coal gas, and a plant to produce about ~100,000 barrels of fuel/day from natural gas is being
built in Qatar. But, this technology is not available for the biomass market where it is impractical to move huge amounts of biomass to a central location for a large-scale plant. UCTA’s objective is to develop a modular approach where a single digester and a liquid fuel reactor might be
implemented at a small dairy farm, or multiple digesters and reactors can be operated in parallel
to serve a much larger farm or the waste water treatment facility of a small city.
Each of the UCTA companies contributes a vital step to the overall waste to energy process
(Figure 6). Wet organics (e.g. manure, municipal wastewater, agricultural waste, slaughterhouse
offal, food waste, etc.) are fed into an IBR anaerobic digester developed by Andigen, where bacteria convert the waste into nutrient rich fertilizer and biogas (1). AD-Technologies’ Biogas
Conditioning System (BCS) removes hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and water to give clean, usable
biogas (2). There are several uses for the biogas after pollutant removal. See Figure 6. It can be
used to run a small-scale gas engine/generator to produce electricity that can be sold to power
companies or used to power the facility producing the waste (3). It can be used directly for heating as a substitute for natural gas or it can be compressed for use in natural gas vehicles (4); or it
can be converted to carbon neutral liquid gasoline and diesel through Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis with Ceramatec’s system and Cosmas’ catalysts(5).
Because of the rising cost of oil, by far, the most profitable alternative is generating liquid fuels.
The retail price of electricity is relatively low so the profit margin for a small generation unit is
small. Payback time for the initial capital expenditures may be from 10-15 years. Local biogas
heating is economical, but seasonal, and the facility will generally produce much more biogas
than can be utilized locally. Vehicles must be converted to use compressed gas and they have a
limited range and cannot replace diesel for heaver work applications. However, profit margins
are greater and payback time for the entire BTL system will be only 4-6 years. Additionally, the
fuels are very clean burning and can be used locally without any modifications of any equipment.
Or, it can be sold on the open market. The FT process also produces some paraffin waxes which
can either be “cracked” back to gasoline or diesel or sold as is. The current market price for such
waxes is almost 50% higher than the liquid fuels. The catalyst and reaction conditions can be
varied as desired to favor light hydrocarbons such as gasoline or heavy hydrocarbons such as the
paraffin waxes.
FIGURE 6. OVERALL WASTE TO ENERGY PROCESS. An additional benefit of the process is the savings in disposal costs of organic waste materials
which present significant environmental challenges and can become quite expensive. In the
UCTA approach, these materials will be converted into valuable liquid fuels and high quality
compost at approximately a 50/50 ratio with a positive economic outcome. The following sections give more detail on each step in the waste to energy process.
Anerobic Digestion – Andigen: Organic waste materials are diluted to 8-10% solids and fed into
the bottom of a cylindrical tank Induced Blanket Reactor (IBR). It rises through a highly concentrated blanket of methanogen bacteria which will convert over half of the organic material to
biogas (~75% methane with carbon dioxide, water vapor and some hydrogen sulfide). All pa-
thogenic bacteria and viruses are destroyed during the process. Mixing of biomass sources is
encouraged. For example, if 15% whey is added to cow manure, biogas production will increase
by 50%. Water is pressed from the residual fibrous material in the effluent, leaving a very rich
compost fertilizer (Figure 7). The process is largely passive and requires very little energy to operate.
FIGURE 8. ENCLOSED IBR FIGURE 7. ANDIGEN'S IBR ANAEROBIC DIGESTION PROCESS
The IBR technology produces larger amounts of biogas per volume of waste than other anaerobic
systems because the unique structure and control systems maintain a super concentrated blanket
of bacteria for optimal gas production. Therefore, the dwell time is shortened to approximately
five days compared to 14-20 days for competitive systems. Hence, the tanks are smaller and
combined with their vertical aspect, they occupy a much smaller footprint and can be easily enclosed for temperature control in cold climates and for easier maintenance (Error! Reference source not found.).
Biogas Conditioning – AD Technologies: The biogas exiting an anaerobic digester contains
small but significant amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), as well as CO2, and water vapor. If the
hydrogen sulfide is not removed, it will generate sulfuric acid which is very corrosive to any devices in which it might be used, and it will “poison” the FT catalyst. AD-Tec’s Biogas Conditioning System (BCS) removes both the hydrogen sulfide and water, and if necessary, it can be
used to remove the carbon dioxide (Figure 9).
The BCS uses a novel zeolite which acts as a molecular-specific sponge to absorb the contaminants. Zeolites are nano-structured materials composed of aluminum and silicon oxides with exact pore sizes which specifically trap the H2S and
H2O, but it lets the methane pass through. When
a tank of the zeolite is loaded to its maximum
capacity, the gas flow is switched to a second
tank and the first tank is regenerated by blowing
hot air in the reverse direction. This regenerative
treatment flushes the H2O and H2S into a waste
gas stream where the H2S is converted into solid
elemental sulfur that can be disposed of or used
as a fertilizer. The conditioned biogas contains
less than 50 parts per billion H2S and less than 1
part per million water. The system is very effiFIGURE 9. AD‐TEC'S BIOGAS CONDITIONING SYSTEM cient and consumes less than 2% of the energy
output (Figure 10).
Other H2S removal technologies are expensive and more complicated. The most common competing system is the amine scrubbing process. In this complicated process, the pollutants are dissolved in amine chemicals. When the liquid is saturated, it must also be regenerated, but it requires a higher temperature and suffers some amine loss, so it must be
replenished. Amines also present safety problems and require special precautions. It is generally accepted that
the amine process is only economically suited for very large gas sources
such as natural gas fields. An “iron
sponge” system is available for smaller gas sources, but the iron absorbent
cannot be regenerated and must be
replaced after it becomes saturated.
Furthermore, it is not effective enough
to use with the FT catalyst and it will
still allow a slow rate of corrosion of
systems using the gas.
TIONING SYSTEM FIGURE 10. SCHEMATIC OF BIOGAS CONDI‐
Biogas-too-Liquid Fueels – Ceramaatec & Cosm
mas: Biogas,, natural gas or gases obtained from super heatinng (but not burning)
b
of organic
o
wastte or coal cann be convertted to liquid fuels by refo
forming them
m to synthesiss gas or “synngas” (CO + H2) that is then
t
used in the FT process to make liquid fuels. Ceramatec has developped a non-theermal electriic arc plasmaa reformer (Error! Referennce source nott found.) whic
ch breaks the biogas intoo synthesis gas.
g The plassma zone of the high volltage/low current elecctric arc traveeling up betw
ween the eleectrodes fracctures the inpput biogas innto
syngas. The
T reformerr is insensitivve to sulfur, has rapid reesponse to looad changes,, and consum
mes
little in thhe way of po
ower (e.g., a 10 kWt refoormer requirres ~ 90 wattts of power).
FIGURE 11. N
NON‐THERMAL PLLASMA REFORMER
R. A. BIOGAS FLO
OWS UP THROUGH
H THE PLASMA ZO
ONE BETWEEN CURVED ELECTRODEES. B. SUPERIMP
POSED ARC IMAGES TAKEN AT 5 mSSEC. INTERVALS.
The synngas is con
nveyed to the
t
Fischer-Tropsch
fixed-bedd column reaactor. A phootograph of the reactor operaating in the Ceramatec
C
laaboratory is shown
s
as
Figure 122. Each mod
dule is an exttrusion apprroximately 2 meteers in length
h containing three 1.5 in diameter
columns and additio
onal temperrature contrrol channels. The gas enters the top of thhe catalyst-ffilled columns annd the liquid
d fuel produucts exit thee bottom.
Each thrree-column module
m
is capable
c
of producing
1-5 barreels of fuel peer day. (For example, a 500-cow
dairy would
w
produ
uce approxiimately 100 L of
fuel/day.) Multiple modules
m
can be operated in parallel for larger
l
biom
mass/biogas sources andd greater
productioon. The reeactor has thee advantage of being
easily traansportable, has featuress to maintainn an even
bed tempperature (imp
portant for high
h
yields inn the liquids rangge of fuels, and is relattively inexpeensive to
fabricate.
FIGURE 12. CERAMATEC MOD
DULAR FT REACTO
OR
Fischer-T
Tropsch cataalysts are matched
m
to thhe reactor
system inn which they
y are used. Cosmas
C
has developed a novel solveent-deficientt method of making nanoomaterials th
hat is employyed to manuufacture verry active
FT catalyysts. The catalyst
c
is a very porouss, high surfa
face area
aluminum oxide ceramic pellet with 8-12 nanometer nanoparticles of a unique mixture of iron,
copper, and potassium dispersed on the surface throughout the pores (Figure 13). At controlled
temperatures and pressures, the catalyst polymerizes the carbon monoxide carbons and adds hydrogen atoms to form a mixture of hydrocarbon chains. Shorter chains are gasoline and longer
are diesel and aviation fuels, and very long chains are paraffin waxes. The distribution of the
products of the reaction can be shifted toward longer or shorter hydrocarbons by the chemical
composition of the catalyst and by adjusting the reaction temperature and pressure. The various
products are separated into fractions by the temperature at which they condense.
Figure 14 shows a schematic diagram of the Biogas-To-Liquid
FIGURE 13. Fe/Cu/K FT CATALYST ON 1.5 mm ALUMINA TRILOBE PELLETS Fuels process.
FIGURE 14. BIOGAS‐TO‐LIQUID FUELS As discussed above, there are a few very large FT plants in operation in various parts of the
world. We are also aware of two companies which are addressing mid-sized operations such as
oil well flare gas that will produce about 1,000 barrels of fuel per day. However, nobody is addressing the smaller, geographically distributed biomass market where production might be 1 to
100 barrels per day. The modular design of the UCTA concept allows the flexibility of operating
a single digester, gas conditioner and FT system for a small biomass source, or operating several
modules of each in parallel for larger sources.
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MINING Organic Energy Corporation (OEC) is an advanced municipal solid waste mining organization.
Its process recovers up to 90% of solid municipal waste for recycling. The process utilizes a single waste stream with no presorting by the residents, and separates it into multiple material
streams for recycling. The OEC system is capable of handling various waste sources, including
residential and commercial waste, curbside recyclables, dirty material recovery facility residue,
landfill bound curbside waste, or any combination of the above.
The result is a highly profitable operation. The valuable commodities (e.g. aluminum, steel,
glass, various plastics, etc.) are separated into individual product streams, while materials of
lesser value are converted to liquid or solid fuels. Each waste component stream is segregated
and each component is delivered to its highest value best use. Only the remaining zero-value inorganic materials are sent to the
landfill (approximately 10% of the
total, depending on the composition
of the source of the waste). The dry
organic material is collected and
processed to form refuse derived
fuel (RDF) which can be used as a
coal substitute, or in other fuel producing processes such as gasification or pyrolysis. There is also an
option to reprocess the RDF into
low-grade paper products, which
does not require the use of thermal
processes. The wet organic material
is fed to an IBR anaerobic digester
to produce biogas as described
FIGURE 15. OEC SEPARATION PROCESS
above (Figure 15).
The OEC system achieves optimal utilization for around 90% of landfill bound waste. It removes
all organic material thereby eliminating fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from the landfill
while providing a large quantity of useful recycled items. The diversion of these waste products
serves to protect water, soil, and air quality. These results are achieved with negligible energy
demands, and strong financial returns.
Other methods of recovering energy from landfill waste are markedly inefficient. The most
common are landfill gas recovery or incineration. Landfill gas recovery lacks many of the UCTA
waste to energy process advantages. The organic decomposition is uncontrolled and slow compared to anaerobic digestion, and the majority of landfill gas is released to the environment before the landfill cell is capped and sealed to enable capture of the biogas. Incineration facilities
also fall short of UCTA’s efficiency. A large portion of the waste stream is water, which needs to
be evaporated (which requires a large amount of energy) before the material can combust. The
more water present, the less net energy gained, potentially creating a negative net energy production. Many societies, such as China, have large water content in the waste, making incineration
inefficient.
The World’s most advanced municipal waste mining recovery system is the Western Placer
Waste Management Authority, Material Recovery Facility located in Roseville California.
George Gitschel, President of Rose Waste Systems, and now CEO of Organic Energy Corporation, designed and supplied equipment for the Placer facility. The facility was operated by Larry
Buckle, P.E. now Chief Technology Officer of Organic Energy Corporation. The facility receives unsorted residential and commercial waste at a maximum rate of 150 tons per hour (Figure
16).
FIGURE 16. WESTERN PLACER WASTE SORTING FACILITY CRYOGENIC CARBON CAPTURE In recent years, environmental concern has increasingly focused on greenhouse gas emissions
and the associated environmental consequences. Of the known greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide
(CO2) is the most significant contributor. Even though other gases (such as methane from landfills) contribute more per molecule of gas, the total impact of CO2 is much larger than all the other greenhouse gases because of the volume produced. Hence, CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels is of significant environmental concern. Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations from approximately 300 ppm to
the current level of about 380 ppm. Coal and other fossil-based power plants contribute about 1/3
of the total CO2 emissions, with the remaining two-thirds approximately equally split between
automobiles and commercial/residential/industrial sources. Mobile and dispersed sources such as
automobiles and commercial/residential activities will be more difficult to control. Hence, a significant amount of research is currently directed toward efficiently reducing greenhouse gas produced from the large stationary sources such as power production and other industrial facilities.
Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) is a process that separates CO2 from flue gas and stores
it in an environmentally safe manner. These methods have been implemented to a small degree
due to lack of clear regulations, high capital and operating costs, and low efficiency of the available technologies. Methods for improving combustion emissions are usually grouped into preand post-combustion methods. Pre-combustion methods collect oxygen from air which is fed into the combustion process. Thus, the emissions are primarily CO2 and H2O and are largely free
of other gases such as the polluting nitrogen oxides. Gasification and oxyfuel combustion are the
two most common examples of pre-combustion processes.
Amine scrubbing is currently the most common post-combustion approach. Amine scrubbing,
while effective at reducing CO2 emissions, raises the cost of power production by about 80% in
modern coal-burning plants. These costs are based on comparative production costs from new
plants. Furthermore, amine-based systems decrease overall process efficiency (fuel to electricity)
by 27-30%. The increased production costs and efficiency penalties for oxy-combustion are
similar. These costs and efficiency decreases represent large obstacles to implementing CCS
technology.
Sustainable Energy Solutions, Inc. has developed a
novel CCS process which is significantly less expensive, more efficient and more environ-mentally
acceptable than traditional methods. Cryogenic
Carbon Capture (CCC) works by freezing the CO2
and separating it from the flue gases as a solid.
CCC is readily added to existing facilities – it can
be “bolted” on the end of the power generating
facility without modification of the existing
equipment. Error! Reference source not found.7 shows
a schematic diagram of the CCC process. Flue gas
is cooled to CO2’s freezing temperature (-100°C to
FIGURE 17. SCHEMATIC OF CRYOGENIC CARBON CAPTURE
-135 °C) and the solid CO2 is separated from lighter gases, such as N2. The solid CO2 is passed
through a recuperative heat exchanger where it cools the incoming flue gases as it changes from
the solid back to the gas (sublimation). Finally, a finishing pump compresses the CO2 for storage
and/or transportation. Recent third-party analyses indicate that the CCC process consumes less
than half the energy and is less than half as expensive as the leading alternative, amine
processing. This CCC process also has potential to remove harmful pollutants such as H2S, HCl,
and mercury, thereby reducing the need for additional flue gas clean-up processes.
HEAVY METAL DETECTION Metallosensors, Inc. of Salt Lake City in collaboration with Honde Environmental, LLC of China
is commercializing a method of detecting toxic mercury contamination. Toxic heavy metals
such as mercury, lead, cadmium, etc. have become significant industrial pollutants in our environment. Current analytical methods for heavy metal contamination require collecting samples
and sending them to a laboratory for analysis by very sophisticated, expensive instruments. The
Metallosensors method employs a novel chemical which is highly fluorescent. If mercury is
present in the sample, it will complex with the fluorescent molecule and quench its fluorescence
(Figure 18). The decrease in fluorescent light is directly proportional to the concentration of
mercury. The most significant advantage of this technology is that it can be used in a hand-held
device in the field. So, mercury contamination can be determined immediately at the site. In
addition, this method is significantly more sensitive (will measure lower concentrations) than the
current approach. Methods for other heavy metals in addition to mercury will be developed in
the future. The prototype hand-held instrument has been designed and will be fabricated in the
very near future and the reagent system is being finalized. It is anticipated that it will be ready
for sale by the summer of 2012.
FIGURE 18. FLUORESCENCE IN THE ABSENCE OF MERCURY (Hg) AND IN ITS PRESENCE PRINCIPAL SCIENTISTS CONLY HANSEN – ANDIGEN & USU Dr. Conly Hansen received B.S. (1971) and M.S. (1973) engineering degrees from Utah State University and a Ph.D. (1980) from Ohio State University in agricultural engineering. Dr. Hansen is a professor and Director of the Center of Excellence in Profitable Uses of Agricultural Byproducts at Utah State University. His research centers on finding ways to manage and utilize low value agricultural production and process. For 20 years, Dr. Hansen has led his field in researching and engineering anaerobic digesters. He provides Andigen with leadership and expert knowledge and experience in research and engineering. JARON HANSEN – AD TECHNOLOGIES & BYU Education: PhD Chemistry 2002, Purdue University; Postdoctoral Scholar 2002‐2005, California Institute of Tech‐
nology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, specialty in Physical and Analytical Chemistry. Dr. Hansen is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Brigham Young University and a Research Scientist at Anaerobic Digestion Technology. His research focuses on the development of pretreatment methods for cellulosic and lignocellulosic material for digestion by anaerobic bacteria. His research group invented the me‐
thod for conditioning of biogas and sour gas. His efforts have resulted in two patent pending processes. His com‐
pany, Anaerobic Digestion Technology, licensed back from Brigham Young University in 2009 the biogas/sour gas conditioning technology. LEE HANSEN – AD TECHNOLOGIES Education: PhD in Inorganic Chemistry, 1965, from Brigham Young University. Professor of Chemistry, University of New Mexico, 1965‐1972. Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, 1972‐2004. Profes‐
sor Emeritus, Brigham Young University, 2004 to present. Professor Hansen is currently a Senior Research Scientist with Anaerobic Digestion Technology where his research is focused on improving heat transfer in the biogas condi‐
tioning system, developing systems for automated collection and disposal of hydrogen sulfide in waste gas, and on detectors for monitoring gas quality. Dr. Hansen has more than 330 publications in peer‐reviewed journals with articles in analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, biochemistry, ecology, and plant physiology. LYNN ASTLE ‐ COSMAS Astle’s formal training is in biochemistry (B.S. Michigan State University, Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University), but for the past 30 years, he has been involved in entrepreneurial activities with technology companies. He spun out 2 technology companies and then served as the director of the Technology Transfer Office at Brigham Young University for 16 years during which time they spun 38 companies out of the university. Since leaving BYU, he co‐
founded Cosmas based upon this BYU technology. BRIAN F. WOODFIELD – COSMAS & BYU Dr. Woodfield received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkley in physical chemistry. He is a professor in the Chemistry Department of Brigham Young University and has a distinguished career in the thermodynamics of nano materials and several associated fields. He developed the novel, solvent‐free method of making the na‐
nomaterials used to produce the Cosmas catalysts, and he serves as the chief technical advisor of the company, and he is directing the development of the Fischer‐Tropsch catalysts. CALVIN H. BARTHOLOMEW ‐ COSMAS Calvin H. Barholomew, Ph.D., Stanford, University, is an internationally known industrial catalyst expert who au‐
thored one of the most widely used texts on industrial catalytic processes. He spent most of his career at BYU and established the BYU Catalysis Laboratory. He has devoted most of his career to specializing in the development of Fisher‐Tropsch catalysts and founded the BYU Fisher‐Tropsch Consortium. He recently retired from BYU and joined the Cosmas team. ALBIN CZERNICHOWSKI ‐ CERAMATEC Master in Chemistry and PhD in Plasma Physics. He has been published internationally in the fields of Plasma Che‐
mistry and Physics, has 31 related patents, and has the original patent on the Fischer Tropsch design that has been licensed to Ceramatec. Ceramatec has further developed the FT technology and reduced it to practice. Dr. Czerni‐
chowski has an extensive background in catalysis, petrochemical and Fischer‐Tropsch processes. He was a Profes‐
sor of Chemistry and Physics, Orleans University, Orleans France and at the Technical University, Wroclaw Poland. He has authored more than 300 articles, several textbooks, and is a recognized expert in Plasma Physics. JOSEPH J. HARTVIGSEN ‐ CERAMATEC
M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University in 1985; B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University in 1982. Mr. Hartvigsen is currently a Senior Engineer at Ceramatec, Inc. He has over 20 years of expe‐
rience in modeling of chemical reactions, thermodynamic analysis of chemical systems, reaction kinetics, steam methane reformation, logistic fuel reformation, and hydrogen fuels. His Masters research was performed at the DOE’s Ames Laboratory. His work in SOFC system engineering has led to more than a dozen patents related to SOFC systems, fuel processing, and cell designs. He has been the project technical lead for multi‐million dollar projects successfully completed for US Department of Energy, US Department of Defense, and several industrial clients. Mr. Hartvigsen was responsible for designing the current Ceramatec Fischer Tropsch system. The inte‐
grated system includes a method for generation of synthesis gas, a compression and storage system, the FT reac‐
tor, catalyst and catalyst support structures, and product collection. LARRY BAXTER – SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS & BYU Larry Baxter joined the BYU faculty in 2000 after working 14 years at Sandia National Laboratories' Combustion Research Facility. His current research involves experimental and theoretical sustainable energy research, including carbon capture and storage, biomass, black liquor, and coal combustion and gasification, diagnostic development, and model development. LING ZANG – METALLOSENSORS & UOFU Ling Zhang has been an Associate Professor at the University of Utah and a USTAR Professor of Nanotechnology since 2008. His research findings have been displayed at many professional presentations, on ChemComm, and on KSL news radio. Dr. Zang sits on the editorial board for journals such as the Journal of Nanoscience letters and the Journal of Nanoengineering and Nanosystems. ANDY HONG – UOFU P.K. Andy Hong is a Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Utah. Some of his honors and awards include a distinguished article in the Journal of Environmental Engineering and Management on Pressure‐Assisted O3/H2O2 process for Degradation of MTBE. He has also been interviewed nu‐
merous time on Fox TV, KSL, and Discovery News. He is the developer of the HOT technology for removal of organ‐
ic toxins from soil.