Municipal - Hartford Waste-to-Energy Facility - Case Study
The HWTEF was developed for Harford County by the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority (the Authority) under its revenue bond financing authority. The Authority owned the facility on behalf of Harford County and operated by Energy Recovery Operations, Inc. (EROI). It was decommissioned last year after more than 20 years of successful operations due to the U.S. Army not renewing the land lease upon which the facility operated. Harford County controlled all tonnage processed in the Facility.
Location: Hartford County, Maryland
Time of Operation: Completed in 1988 and operated for 27 years. It was retrofitted to operate until 2032
- 115,000 tons of County MSW annually
- Operated 24 hours per day, seven days per week
- Approximately 5 to 6 days of waste is stored within the building, which includes negative air pressure to keep dust and odors within the building.
- Approximately 7,500 tons of metal per year are recovered. White goods and propane tanks are separated from the waste before gasification. There is no material recovery installed at this location.
- Ash residue (±9%) generated by the facility is tested in accordance with guidelines promulgated by USEPA in 1994. The data from the tests conducted in accordance with the USEPA guidelines characterized the ash residue as non-hazardous. Since there is no front-end material recovery system in this facility, the resulting ash is screened to capture metals for recycling; the screened ash is used as alternative daily cover at the Harford County Landfill, thereby reducing the actual landfilling of the material.
Specifications & Performance:
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300 TPD Capacity
Main stack in full operation- No visible emissions from smoke.
The County saw a 90% reduction in the volume of waste entering the landfill because of this facility.
Summary
The facility began operations in 1988 using Hoskinson technology pyrolytic gasification units. The subsequent purchase of the facility by the county was completed during the summer of 2002, ensuring that the waste management needs of Harford County would continue to be met in an economically and environmentally safe manner. The facility was well maintained over its life; the Air Pollution Control Train was retrofitted in 2011 in anticipation of another 20 years of operation.
The Harford facility annually processes approximately 115,000 tons of County waste collectively by its four gasification units. Approximately 700,000 lbs. of steam was produced annually from waste processing and sold to the Edgewood Area of the US Army`s Aberdeen Proving Ground. Harford County and Baltimore City agreed through the Authority that some of the Harford WTE residual ash is beneficially used for alternative daily cover at the Baltimore City Quarantine Road Landfill. In return, Baltimore City sends used tires to the Harford WTE facility, thus removing the tires from the waste stream and allowing for the capture of the tires` energy value.