The DryVac technology removes solids from aqueous wastes. The plant handles 50 dry metric tons (dry basis 80%) of primary and secondary wastewater solids daily with the byproducts of agricultural water and biomass feedstock. Applications are under way for Carbon Credits. Biomass is important to the UK?s renewable energy supply and national carbon-emission reduction targets. DryVac sewage bio solids are a positive biomass fuel.

The UK Carbon Trust calculates small heat plant returns at sewage facilities are high enough for stand alone investment at a three year ROI with an oil price scenario of $50/bbl. The overall plant cost benefit is increased through onsite energy generation, use efficiencies and lockedin fuel supply. Auditing greenhouse gas emissions, from traditional energy use creates a baseline figure enabling comparisons with the DryVac energy requirements. The DryVac system cuts stages from traditional treatments, producing notable energy and carbon savings. DryVac also eliminates the biological degradation of the organic matter with corresponding dramatic reduction in biological released carbon. DryVac is developing a pragmatic methodology to quantify the carbon inventory reduction through the DryVac treatment cycle to support Carbon Credit applications.

Treating wastewater for reuse is becoming an economically attractive option as the process conserves drinking water, an increasingly scarce resource. Reclaimed water is treated effluent that, instead of being discharged into a natural body of water, is treated to a higher degree and used for a broad range of practical purposes, most commonly irrigation. DryVac sewage treatment of primary municipal waste water will be the economic driver to successful potable reclamation of municipal and industrial waste water. The DryVac system is used in combination with modern tertiary water treatment utilizing reverse osmosis and micro filtration to produce potable water for supplementing municipal drinking reservoirs, groundwater recharging or high quality industrial uses. The dried cake and other available municipal solids are utilized as feedstock for biomass energy conversion. Primary wastes need to be recognized as resources, not waste. The waste concept leads to expensive capital/operating costs and environmental degradation, because the waste handling is viewed as a disposal cost.

Palm oil is a form of edible vegetable oil obtained from the fruit of the oil palm tree. It is the world’s second most widely produced edible oil, after soybean oil. Demand for palm oil is rising and is expected to climb further, particularly for use in biodiesel. Oil palms are grown for their clusters of fruit, which can weigh 40-50kg. Upon harvest, the outer husk and stems are removed with the seed and outer pericarp being processed for oil. In the process, the kernel is separated from the surrounding meso cup fiber (which held the oil). Dependent on the oil quality, first run normal palm oil is valued at $400.00/t. Oil recovered from the deoiler/cooling ponds is valued at $200.00/t. The stalk and bunches are used in attached solid fuel boilers to generate steam, along with the meso-cup fiber which still contains 4% oil by weight.

The palm oil mills use 3 Bar steam for operations with periodic releases of waste steam at 1 Bar, the operation need of the DryVac unit. The DryVac unit will utilize the “waste” steam through use of a pressure vessel to hold superheated water. The intermittent nature of the steam availability would not hinder the heating process. On need of steam for the DryVac, the superheated water would be released, “flashed” and regulated to the 1 Bar process need. This essentially gives free energy, after amortization of the pressure vessel and related piping and regulators.

The DV process will remove the remaining 4% of oil from the meso-cup fiber by grinding and inclusion in the waste water steam for processing. This relieves the waste water lagoons of the remaining oil, as well as 10% suspended solids and 2-3% dissolved solids which are currently causing water table and lagoon overloading. This has caused increased enforcement and delay in permitting of new facilities. The solid cake from the DV will be oil free and now suitable for use in fiber board at a USD value of $100/ton. Some varieties of palm will require a washing with solvent, while in the DV press, to remove all the oil. The solvent is recycled.

At current palm oil prices, with the inclusion of new fiber board product, ROI is projected at 2.5 years. After recovery of the oil and fiber, the clean water is directly returned at a quality suitable for agricultural irrigation. There is no current Malaysian market need for either agricultural water or further processed (polished) industrial water, so no value is given in the ROI calculations. The ROI is also calculated without consideration given to either relief or reduction of current waste handling charges or the value to mitigation of expansion permit objections from governmental and environmental sources.