MMSD finally gets gas pipeline project from Muskego working

Source: Milwaukee Journal SentinelJan.迷你倉 13--Landfill gas finally is flowing uninterrupted -- 10 months behind schedule -- in a pipeline from Muskego to Jones Island in the Milwaukee harbor, where it is burned to generate electricity for the state's largest sewage treatment plant.The $86 million energy project is intended to save money over 20 years by reducing the amount of more costly natural gas needed to power the treatment plant. Final operating tests were completed Dec. 27, according to Mike Martin, technical services director for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.District officials had planned to begin burning landfill gas last March, but delays have cost MMSD $937,000 in unbudgeted natural gas purchases through Dec. 31, according to district controller and treasurer Mark Kaminski. Those costs will be paid with the district's contingency fund and will not result in a budget deficit for 2013, he said.Advanced Disposal Services Inc., owner of the Emerald Park Landfill in Muskego, is under contract to ship a minimum of 690,404 dekatherms of landfill gas to Jones Island in 2014. One dekatherm is equal to 1 million British thermal units, or Btu, a measure of the energy content of the gas.A small volume of the gas -- between 1,100 and 1,300 dekatherms a day -- has been delivered since late December, Martin said. Advanced Disposal will have to pick up the pace to meet the contract minimum volume for this year.The gas is being blended with natural gas and burned in three turbine generators. The volume of landfill gas is expected to steadily increase each year, up to a minimum of 993,287 dekatherms in 2029, and cut dependence on natural gas.Landfill gas is released during decomposition of garbage. A gas processing plant at Emerald Park removes hydrogen sulfide, silicon particles and nearly all water vapor before it is piped to Jones Island.Landfill gas contains between 50% and 55% methane. Its cost will be about 48% of the price of natural gas, based on energy content, not volume. Natural文件倉gas prices have climbed 20% since Nov. 1 during a prolonged period of cold weather.Burning less expensive natural gas at Jones Island for power will save the district "tens of millions of dollars" over the 20-year purchase contract with Advanced Disposal, according to Kaminski. The higher the market price of natural gas, the greater the savings in burning landfill gas.Additional savings will come from using waste heat from the turbines in production of Milorganite, a fertilizer made from drying bacteria and other microbes used in the sewage treatment process.Waste heat from the three turbines is being piped to the Milorganite dryers, reducing use of natural gas at the plant, Martin said.A 10-month delay in delivering landfill gas to Jones Island was caused by failures of three compressors, one for each of the turbines, and other technical problems.In the last half of 2013, Advanced Disposal was not able to deliver low-moisture content fuel meeting contract requirements on a daily basis.The gas must be provided at an extremely low dew point of minus 20 degrees. Dew point is the temperature at which water would condense out of gas.MMSD required a lower moisture content than the industry standard of 35 degrees to protect a steel segment of the pipeline between Emerald Park and Jones Island. Allowing water to condense and collect inside the steel pipe could damage the metal, district officials said.Landfill gas has met contract moisture requirements consistently since late December, Martin said.Total pipeline length is 19 miles. A contractor built 13.3 miles of high-density polyethylene pipeline from Emerald Park at S. 124th St. in Muskego to College Ave., where it extends east to Pennsylvania Ave. There it meets an old steel petroleum pipeline, purchased by the district, that extends 5.7 miles north to Jones Island.Twitter: twitter.com/conserveCopyright: ___ (c)2014 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at .jsonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉