Page 22 - Mar/April 2016 Vol.33No.7
P. 22
LEBANON By Nancy Cooper
Waste-to-Energy
Plant Groundbreaking
“This facility is going to be a model for waste-to-energy partnerships,” Lebanon
Mayor Philip Craighead said, “as well as the first stage in moving our city
completely away from dumping waste into landfills.”
His remarks were part of a November 2015 groundbreaking ceremony that
kicked off construction of a new gasification plant at the City’s wastewater
treatment facility. Tens of thousands of tons of sewer sludge, used tires and From left: Tennessee State Rep. Mark Pody; Katy Miller
industrial wood waste will be processed there each year, producing electricity to (representing US Senator Bob Corker’s office); Lebanon
help power the treatment plant and diverting those materials from area landfills. Mayor Philip Craighead; Tennessee State Senator Mae
PHG Energy of Nashville is designing and building the new facility for Beavers, and Tom Doherty (Environmental Specialist with
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation)
Lebanon. The installation will include utilization of the world’s largest downdraft break ground for the Lebanon Gasification Plant.
gasification unit with a full capacity throughput of 64 tons per day. Gasification is
a clean thermo-chemical process that breaks down biomass-based material in a high-heat and low-oxygen environment. There is
no incineration or burning involved in the process. The only residue after production of synthetic fuel gas is a carbon biochar that
has multiple agricultural, industrial and direct fuel uses. The syngas is used to power an Organic Rankine Cycle generator that will
provide for the gasification operation’s internal needs, and deliver up to 200 Kw directly to the operation of the waste plant.
Tom Doherty, Environmental Specialist with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said the new facility
is an important step forward in efforts that his Department is fostering across the state. “When we look at the thousands of tons of
wood waste and sludge this plant will cleanly process, that is a tremendous step forward,” Doherty said. “One of the most exciting
parts of deploying this technology in Lebanon is that hundreds of tons of scrap tires will be put to beneficial use while saving
Wilson County a considerable portion of their previous disposal expense.”
TDEC has awarded the project funding of $250,000 through the Clean Tennessee Energy Grant program, and facilitated a subsidy
of 70 percent of the $3.5 million financing’s interest cost through the Federal Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds program.
22 TPW March/April 2016
Waste-to-Energy
Plant Groundbreaking
“This facility is going to be a model for waste-to-energy partnerships,” Lebanon
Mayor Philip Craighead said, “as well as the first stage in moving our city
completely away from dumping waste into landfills.”
His remarks were part of a November 2015 groundbreaking ceremony that
kicked off construction of a new gasification plant at the City’s wastewater
treatment facility. Tens of thousands of tons of sewer sludge, used tires and From left: Tennessee State Rep. Mark Pody; Katy Miller
industrial wood waste will be processed there each year, producing electricity to (representing US Senator Bob Corker’s office); Lebanon
help power the treatment plant and diverting those materials from area landfills. Mayor Philip Craighead; Tennessee State Senator Mae
PHG Energy of Nashville is designing and building the new facility for Beavers, and Tom Doherty (Environmental Specialist with
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation)
Lebanon. The installation will include utilization of the world’s largest downdraft break ground for the Lebanon Gasification Plant.
gasification unit with a full capacity throughput of 64 tons per day. Gasification is
a clean thermo-chemical process that breaks down biomass-based material in a high-heat and low-oxygen environment. There is
no incineration or burning involved in the process. The only residue after production of synthetic fuel gas is a carbon biochar that
has multiple agricultural, industrial and direct fuel uses. The syngas is used to power an Organic Rankine Cycle generator that will
provide for the gasification operation’s internal needs, and deliver up to 200 Kw directly to the operation of the waste plant.
Tom Doherty, Environmental Specialist with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said the new facility
is an important step forward in efforts that his Department is fostering across the state. “When we look at the thousands of tons of
wood waste and sludge this plant will cleanly process, that is a tremendous step forward,” Doherty said. “One of the most exciting
parts of deploying this technology in Lebanon is that hundreds of tons of scrap tires will be put to beneficial use while saving
Wilson County a considerable portion of their previous disposal expense.”
TDEC has awarded the project funding of $250,000 through the Clean Tennessee Energy Grant program, and facilitated a subsidy
of 70 percent of the $3.5 million financing’s interest cost through the Federal Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds program.
22 TPW March/April 2016
