Rozenburg WTE Plant
Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Deltaway Services: Facility management, engineering
- Rated Plant Capacity: 3,500 tpd
- Technology: Incineration technology by DBA, Germany
- Operator: AVR; and KKR Capstone, London; and CVC Capital Partners
- Fourth quarter 2009 to fourth quarter 2014
In 2005, several investment funds joined together to acquire the Rozenburg plant. Over each of the following four years, the plant’s performance progressively deteriorated. Several plant managers were brought in to remedy the problems, but none was able to make a significant impact.
In late 2009, at the invitation of one of an owner firm, Deltaway conducted a global plant performance audit followed by an implementation plan and associated technical assistance. We also assigned a full-time Deltaway plant manager and a technical team to oversee the plan’s implementation.
The result was a comprehensive facility makeover that reorganized Rozenburg’s boiler outage management, implemented a new boiler inspection program, and launched a maintenance reliability program for less downtime. The makeover also optimized the plant’s steam cycle for increased power production and modified the combustion control logic to stabilize combustion and reduce emissions and equipment wear.
In just one year, Rozenburg’s steam cycle efficiency increased by 13 percent and unscheduled downtime declined from 9.2 percent to less than 5 percent. As a result, calendar year 2011 waste throughput and MWh output were the highest in 10 years.
Marion Plasma Arc Plant
Marion, Iowa
- Deltaway Services: Engineering review and feasibility assessment
- Proposed Plant Capacity: 100-to-500 tpd
- Technology: Plasma arc gasification
- Client: City of Marion
- Second quarter 2009 to third quarter 2009
Deltaway was invited to perform a short-term engineering review to help a municipality evaluate the potential of a waste-to-energy facility equipped with plasma arc technology. Deltaway reviewed heat and mass balance and process options from three plasma arc vendors; assessed a variety of power production, energy sales, and power grid interconnection options; estimated costs; and contributed to a financial pro-forma evaluation
Based on the results of our initial study, the city of Marion moved ahead with approval of a regional board and allocated funds to a start-up company called Plasma Power LLC for preliminary engineering of 100-ton-per-day plant, using fuel from a regional landfill. Ultimately, this plant will be built in a larger nearby city with a greater energy demand, and in greater need of the plasma produced syngas feedstock.
Huadu WTE Plant
Guangzhou, China
- Deltaway Services: Conceptual design
- Rated Plant Capacity: 1,500 tpd
- Technology: Volund mass burn technology
- Owner: Grantop
- Fourth quarter 2010 to third quarter 2012
Since December 2010, Deltaway has been providing conceptual design services for a proposed 1,500 ton-per-day, 28-megawatt waste-to-energy plant under consideration for a site in southern China’s largest city—one of that country’s largest producers of municipal waste. Deltaway has been assisting in a year-round waste characterization study and performance analysis for the client.
With completion of Deltaway’s conceptual design services in mid- 2012, the client expects to start construction of the plant in 2012. For projects of this type, Deltaway will normally proceed from conceptual design into preliminary engineering, design, and construction—working with local Chinese engineers in this case—and eventually into an operations and maintenance contract for the finished plant.
Okeelanta Biomass Plant
South Bay, Florida
- Deltaway Services: Performance analysis
- Rated Plant Capacity: 74 MW
- Technology: Stoker
- Operator: New Hope Power Partnership
- Third quarter 2011 to second quarter 2012
Deltaway was invited in 2011 to execute a performance analysis on a 15-year-old, 74-megawatt biomass cogeneration facility at a sugar mill. The plant’s operator had installed a second turbine generator set to the site in hopes of increasing the plant’s power output while taking advantage of a tax incentive, but asked Deltaway to assess whether the cost of accommodating the second turbine and adding steam capacity made sense when all was said and done.
Deltaway performed a thorough economic analysis, weighing all considerations—including the impact of the fuel quality (sugarcane waste) on the generator’s steam capacity, as well as calculating the overall cost and tax benefits. Deltaway is finalizing its report, which will recommend whether to proceed with the addition of the second generator or to drop the plan in favor of installing all-new equipment.
Ren-Wu WTE Plant
Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
- Deltaway Services: Facility management, engineering
- Rated Plant Capacity: 1,350 tpd
- Technology: Martin reverse reciprocating grate system
- Operator: Sita Waste Services
- Second quarter 2004 to fourth quarter 2011
In late 2004, Sita Waste Services, long-term operators of the RenWu waste-to-energy plant in Taiwan, were growing increasingly concerned about rising operating costs and declining performance at their 1,350-ton-per-day plant, which was not yet five years old. As part of an introductory meeting, Deltaway offered to analyze the facility’s shortfalls and return with a proposal to fix the lapsing performance.
Within a few weeks, Deltaway was back to propose a number of technical upgrades. Among the upgrades the owner chose to implement over the next few months: enhancements to the O2 combustion control and infrared furnace temperature measurement systems; and modification of the plant’s induced draft fan, filter baghouse controls, and superheater installations. These initial upgrades were so effective that Sita Waste Services CEO asked Deltaway’s lead manager on the project to become director of operations at the plant under a profit-sharing facility management contract.
The facility management contract opened the door for Deltaway to restructure and retrain many of the plant’s operations employees and to implement new operation and maintenance procedures. All told, Deltaway significantly reduced RenWu’s maintenance costs and downtime while increasing its annual throughput by more than 45,000 tons and its power generation by 26 megawatt hours. Since then, the facility has been praised by the Taiwan EPA to be the best performing plant in Taiwan.
