The Hyperion plant has been doing this for 30 years (LosAngeles) Kirk Darryl McMahon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Now that's what he's talking about: O'Brien praises workers' ingenuity: City plants save millions in energy costs Byline: Jake Rupert Illustration: Photo: Pat McGrath, The Ottawa Citizen / Methane gas, a byproduct of sewage treatment that was once burned off, is running engines that produce $1.4 million of electricity yearly.; Photo: Pat McGrath, The Ottawa Citizen / from left, Dave McCartney and Dave Robertson said they 'knew they were on to something' when the $4.5-million power-producing system at the sewage treatment plant paid for itself in a few years.
When Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien was campaigning two months ago, he spoke about creating a "culture of excellence" at City Hall, but he had a difficult time explaining how it would work. Yesterday, he heard how a group of city utility workers recently won an award for coming up with innovative ways of saving the city $2.8 million per year on energy costs. His eyes just beamed when he heard how Dave McCartney, manger of drainage and waste water services, and Dave Robertson, manager of waste water treatment, created a system to turn methane gas, a byproduct of sewage treatment that used to be burned off, into $1.4 million of savings at the city's sewage treatment plant. Thanks to these men, Ottawa is the first city in Canada to burn the gas effectively through three 16-cylinder, locomotive-sized engines, creating half the power the plant uses. The system, devised by the men and their staff, cost $4.5 million to install in 1997 and paid for itself by 2002. "That's exactly the kind of thing I'm look for," Mr. O'Brien said. "Exactly what I'm talking about. The true strength of an organization is not in the executive office or administration. It's with its operational people. "These guys had an excellent idea, and we need more of them. That's the kind of culture I want to develop. They should get an award from the city, too." Last week, the city's utility department got the top prize from the Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Initiative, which is made up of officials from 15 cities in the province. Ottawa won for the system at the sewage treatment centre and another project that sees $1.4 million in hydro electricity generated at the Fleet Street pumping station using a natural drop in elevation. The power is used in pumps that send drinking water across a large portion of the city. Ken Thompson is an engineer who chaired the selection panel that helped choose Ottawa for the award. He said other municipalities are doing similar things on the energy conservation front, but Ottawa has taken a more large- scale and detailed approach to the issue. "It's unique," he said. "They've really taken a serious approach to managing electricity, and they have been innovative enough to make things work quite well." The detailed information on, and management of, energy consumption at the sewage treatment plant is staggering. At the click of a computer mouse, workers can check exactly how much electricity the plant is using, how much it's producing, and how much it is taking from the grid. Another click can ramp up power produced by the engines, bring on more supply from diesel generators, or pull more from the grid. It's even possible to tell if a major component is pulling more or less power than it should. Mr. McCartney said the idea for the system was his, but it took Mr. Robertson and a crew of engineers to design the system. The methane is produced by bacteria in airless digesters as they eat biosolids in the sewage. The gas is captured and sent to a building housing the engines, which roar around the clock and each produce enough electricity in an hour to power an average house for a month. The electricity is then put on the plant's internal grid. Coolant from the engines is sent to an exchanger and the heat is transferred to the plant's water boiler heating system. Not letting anything go to waste, the boiler system water is then passed through the engines' searing exhaust system to be heated up further. Mr. McCartney said the system is working so well that several other municipalities have sent people to check it out. "It's been done before, but never as successfully as we have," Mr. Robertson said. "It feels nice to get the award. When it paid for itself so quickly, we knew we were on to something." If the two energy creating projects didn't exist, property taxes would have to increase .3 per cent to buy more power, and this is something that is not lost on Ottawa's new mayor. "I think these guys are municipal heroes," Mr. O'Brien said. -- Darryl McMahon It's your planet. If you won't look after it, who will? The Emperor's New Hydrogen Economy (now in print and eBook) http://www.econogics.com/TENHE/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
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