2009 Annual Report - Toromont Industries Ltd.

12 | TOROMONT 2009 ANNUAL REPORT
“The City of Hamilton set out to
achieve several objectives with the
Glanbrook site beyond the elimination of
harmful gases and revenue generation,”
said Joe VanSchaick, EPG Market Manager,
Toromont CAT Power Systems who
developed Toromont’s Glanbrook proposal.
“Because the site is located in an urban
area, they wanted to reduce odours and
odour complaints, leachate mounding and
noise emissions. This is also an operating
landfill, so there would be zero tolerance for
any waste disposal disruption during plant
construction. It was an ambitious effort
and one we were eager to undertake.”
To address the City’s objectives,
Toromont engineers added a dedicated
blower to provide extra combustion
capacity for odour control. The gas
collection system was designed to include
28 horizontal gas collection trenches placed
in areas with higher leachate levels, which
improved collection efficiency. This was in
addition to gas wells drilled into the top of
the landfill. A number of adjustments were
also made to the generators and radiator
system to reduce noise. Powerful monitoring
and control systems were also added,
allowing the operator to remotely perform
diagnostic tests and calibrations.
Following design, construction began
in 2007. Phase one included installation of
horizontal collection trenches, transmission
header piping, condensate traps and
extraction wells. During this phase,
Toromont CAT equipment was used for
earthmoving and Battlefield – The CAT
Rental Store provided a variety of small
tools and lifts.
Phase two involved site preparation
and construction of the power plant and
its various units in an obscure area of the
The Caterpillar G3520 efficiently burns the methane produced from the
landfill to provide a clean, green, reliable source of renewable energy.
landfill, chosen so that it would integrate
with a nearby forest. The plant includes a
motor control centre and a blower
building, which houses a collection
system. Inside the blower building, gas
sucked from the wells is conditioned,
chilled and condensed before it is
combusted by two low-emission Caterpillar
1.6MW G3520C generators packaged
by Toromont specifically for Glanbrook.
These systems cope with impure gas,
which shortens both spark plug and oil life
and causes regular build ups of siloxanes
in the combustion chamber. Siloxane is a
chemical compound that when oxidized,
forms abrasive deposits on pistons and
cylinder heads and damages internal
engine components.
In all, it was a complex installation
completed while the landfill remained fully
operational. The plant was commissioned
by Toromont in November of 2008 after
Ontario Power Generation installed five miles
of electrical line to connect the plant to the
grid and Glanbrook received operating
permits from the Ministry of the Environment.
Bill Batty, a long-time Toromont
employee, led the commissioning process
– and now serves as plant supervisor. “My
job is to keep the plant operating 24/7,
because any downtime means the loss of
revenue for the City and the need to flare
the gas rather than capture and harness
it,” said Mr. Batty. “I also maintain and
balance production from the 45 gas wells
on site. Using gas monitoring equipment, I
switch production from one well to another
and that way get a higher average
methane content in the gas we’re burning.
If a well is overtaxed, the blowers start to
draw oxygen rather than methane. So far,
Glanbrook has been running its engines at
“ landfills produce greenhouse
gas 24/7. with the Toromont
engineered, cAT powered plant,
we are able to maintain production
volumes on a continuous basis.”
Bill Batty,
Plant Supervisor, Glanbrook Landfill, Hamilton
about 55 to 57% methane – which is much
better than average for a landfill.”
Mr. Batty uses an Internet-enabled
Scada system to remotely monitor the plant
on weekends and evenings from his laptop
and makes a variety of adjustments to
ensure peak operation. Toromont’s St.
Catharines branch provides ongoing
maintenance to the plant.
While the market for LGE plants is
decidedly niche, more than 50 landfills in
Toromont CAT’s territories meet the gas
production threshold that would make them
viable energy producers.
Today, more than a year after completion,
Glanbrook is meeting its objectives.
The operation generates net electricity
output of 26 million kilowatts-hours per
year, enough to power 2,100 homes. Based
on a 20-year agreement with OPA, Hamilton
Renewable Power receives 11 cents per
kilowatt hour plus 3.52 cents per kilowatt
hour for on-peak power production from the
landfill. Considering project costs offset by
the revenue stream, payback will be
achieved by the end of 2012.
Most important, this installation
eliminates 100,000 tonnes a year of carbon
dioxide that would otherwise be released
into the atmosphere. That’s the equivalent
of planting 9,200 hectares of trees. TIH