GTI Partners with Millar Western for Bioenergy Effluent Project

Geomembrane Technologies Inc. (GTI) is pleased to be working with Millar Western Forest Products Ltd. to help harness clean energy from pulp mill wastes as part of an exciting Bioenergy Effluent Project (BEP).

Millar Western is a privately-held forest products company that has been in business for more than a century. Its pulp mill in Whitecourt, Alberta, Canada, produces 325,000 air-dried metric tonnes (ADMT) of hardwood and softwood bleached-chemi-thermo-mechanical pulp (BCTMP) per year. 

GTI’s involvement in the project includes the fabrication and installation of gastight floating membrane covers for three anaerobic digesters that will be central components of the bioenergy facility, as well as the installation of an internal piping and media system. Nearly 30,000 2` x 2` x 4` blocks of corrugated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) media modules are being fabricated and assembled as part of the project.

GTI will fabricate and assemble modular panels with XR-5® top sheet to fit each of the three 126-foot-diameter digesters. Once completed, the covers will float on the pulp process wastewater, creating a seal to capture the biogas produced during anaerobic digestion.

The biogas that GTI’s covers collect will be scrubbed and used to fuel a power island that will generate power and heat, helping to displace fossil fuels in pulp mill processes. The BEP is expected to lower Millar Western`s direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by about 40,000 tonnes per year.

GTI would like to congratulate Millar Western on its waste-to-energy initiative and looks forward to playing a role in this important project.