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102 Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Wastes and Energy AEA/ED45551/Issue 1 Table 53 Risks and barriers for MHT Level of Risk Comment Technical High Demonstration projects only at present. Social & Planning Medium Not as divisive as an incinerator but still subject of concern as a waste technology. Financial Medium Requires revenue from sale of fuel but market not well established. Fuel is still classed as a waste which may give problems with sale and use and hence price. Standards and agreed specifications are needed to make the fuel product a traded commodity. Regulatory Medium Fuel is still classed as a waste which may give problems with sale and use hence a reduced price. The legal status needs to be clarified. Standards would help to clarify definitions. There are a number of suppliers of autoclave based MHT technology in the UK. Sterecycle 181 have constructed a 100,000 tonnes per annum autoclave facility at Rotherham, which is currently treating residual MSW from three local authorities and has received planning approval to double the capacity to 200,000 tonnes per annum. 182 The Huyton MHT site in Merseyside uses a Mechanical Heat Treatment technology developed by Orchid Environmental, designed to process 80,000 tonnes/yr of MSW. 183 The site, which began operation in June 2008 as a demonstration plant, uses a low heat process, together with air and moisture to separate waste and convert the organic fraction into fuel pellets. This site is part of the DEFRA Demonstrator Programme, but suffered a fire in 2008. The pre-treated waste is mixed with water, and this is then fed into a drum, which is heated using hot air. Graphite Resources obtained planning approval in 2005 for an autoclave plant at the Derwenthaugh (Gateshead) Eco-Parc, which will process 300,000 tonnes per annum of mainly commercial waste. Plant construction was delayed due to financing issues, but the plant is now being constructed, and is scheduled to begin operating in the autumn of 2009. 184 Planning permission was received by Estech (now part of VT group) for a plant in Herefordshire in 2004, but construction was delayed when the planning approval was challenged, and whilst this has now been resolved, the plant is unlikely to be operational until 2012. VT group have received planning permission for a 100,000 tonne per annum autoclave in Wakefield as part of a waste treatment site which will also include an anaerobic digestion facility, and hope to secure financial close for this project during 2009. 185 Orchid Environmental have received planning permission from Flintshire county council to build a 160,000 tonne-a-year capacity mechanical heat treatment facility at Flintshire, Deeside. 186 This site would aim to mainly treat commercial and industrial waste, and has plans to develop up to six similar projects over the next two years. 181 http://www.sterecycle.com/ 182 Yorkshire autoclave plant to double capacity. News item at www.letsrecycle.com, 20 January 2009 183 Defra Factsheet, Merseyside WDA/Orchid Environmental, http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/wip/newtech/dem-programme/pdf/MWDA.pdf 184 Information at www.graphiteresources.com 185 VT Group wins planning go-ahead for Wakefield PFI. News item at www.letsrecycle.com, 28 November 2008. 186 Green Light for £20 million Flintshire MHT plant. News item at letsrecycle.com, 15 December 2008
Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Wastes and Energy AEA/ED45551/Issue 1 7.1.3 Standards for Solid Recovered fuels There is considerable pressure for solid recovered fuels from MBT and MHT treatment plant to be regarded as products rather than waste. This has resulted in the setting up of a CEN Technical committee to develop a suite of standards for the characterisation and analysis of these products - TC343. The Work Programme for TC 343 is allocated to 5 Working Groups: • WG1 Terminology and Quality Assurance • WG2 Fuel specifications and classes • WG3 Sampling, sample reduction and supplementary test methods • WG4 Physical/Mechanical tests • WG5 Chemical Tests The mandate for this standardisation work is given as: - “fuels prepared from non-hazardous waste to be utilised for energy recovery in waste incineration or coincineration plants regulated under Community environmental legislation”. The current status is that all Technical Specifications for CEN 343 have now been submitted to formal vote and are expected to be come into use as full standards in 2011. 7.1.4 Preparation of wood chips and pellets Wood from forestry operations Wood fuel currently comes mostly from thinning operations where small diameter trees are felled, and even smaller diameter branches and material from the harvesting of timber logs that is too small to be a primary product. These are chipped either as part of the harvest operation or are taken to the roadside for chipping, or for delivery as small round-wood logs for chipping at the users facility. The latest installations under the Bioenergy Capital Grant Scheme have shown a marked preference for logs as they store without degradation for a long period, and so can be regarded as a good strategic reserve, and provide a guaranteed clean fuel with no debris. Branch wood and tops, so called brash, could be used as fuel but contains a higher proportion of ash, needles and debris and so is currently not extracted in any quantity. As demand increases then this situation may change, but use of brash would likely require some engineering modifications to boilers to cope with the increased ash. For smaller installations the quality of chip in terms of its size and moisture is critical to the reliable operation of the unit. The type of chipper used and the way in which the material is stored plays an important part in guaranteeing good quality feedstock. Drum chippers produce the best quality and cut chip product should be stored under cover. Pellet production from sawmill by-product Sawmills generate large quantities of sawdust that can be converted in to pellet fuel. Pellets are small cylinders of compressed wood manufactured in the same type of machine as cattle feed and cat litter. They are free flowing clean and convenient to use. Over the past decade clean wood pellets have transformed the small scale wood heating market with a range of boilers and room heaters designed specifically for pellets. The best example of pellet production is the Balcas Sawmill in Northern Ireland. This installation was built with grant aid from the Bioenergy Capital Grant Scheme, and comprises a 2.7 MWe CHP installation. The fuel for the CHP is taken from the poor quality bark and slab wood whilst the sawdust is dried using the heat rejected from the steam cycle. The dry sawdust is compressed in to pellets at the rate of 40,000 tonnes per annum. An additional installation is being built by Balcas in Scotland that will deliver 100,000 tonnes of pellets per annum. 103
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South East 327 - - 55% of MSW by 20
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Appendix 3 MBT Methods Specific in
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Figure 27 Orchid Environmental proc
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