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How Do We Do It?

Technology

The Enviropark proposed for Hirwaun will have distinctly separate technologies that are linked together using well established process integration engineering.

It is this linking together that produces energy production efficiencies that enable an Enviropark to be classed as an energy producer.

Fuel Preparation Area

The key technology employed is the Fuel Preparation Area or FPA for short. The primary purpose of the FPA is to separate incoming feedstocks into three categories.

The first category is recyclates - and by recyclates we mean metals, glass, plastics - in fact anything that has a value and can be offered for further processing off-site.

The second category is organic waste - and by organic waste we mean any feedstock that is of a 'biological' nature. This can come from food processors, from restaurants and importantly from household black bag waste (up to half this type of waste can be organic in nature, and is typically food waste) and also from kitchen food waste that has been collected separately. This organic 'fraction' is pumped to the Anaerobic Digester.

The third category is basically what's left or residual waste - this will have a low organic content, but some organics will remain. It will also include plastics that cannot be recycled or paper and card that is too degraded to recycle. However, this residual waste still has one important component - energy.

The FPA is essentially a sophisticated sorting and separation system.

Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion

The organic feedstock recovered by the FPA is pumped into the anaerobic digesters where it degrades under controlled conditions producing a methane gas.

This organic feedstock is usually very wet. After the gas has been recovered and the water has been removed from the solids and cleaned up, we are left with a solid. This solid typically can be used as a soil conditioner or a biomass fuel for the Plasma Gasifier.

We use the Biomax process for enhanced food seperation. 

Plasma Gasification

The residual feedstocks, whilst having no residual value, may still have a calorific value. Calorific value is a measure of the energy content of a material. We can release that energy in the form of a synthetic gas by exposing this feedstock to the very high temperatures within the sealed unit of a Plasma converter.

What remains after this process is a vitrified rock that is totally inert and which can be used as hardcore for roadfill. 

Power House

So, the above processes produce two types of gas. These are pumped to the power or engine house. In this building we have a number of engines designed to combust these gases. This in turn produces electricity which keeps the processes running continously with the power thay have generated, with the excess - and this is the important bit -  being supplied to the national grid for distribution as 'green' renewable energy.

High Energy User

To complete the concept of the Enviropark we invite a company to co-locate with us. This improves our electrical and thermal efficiency and we are then able to supply 'green' electricity and heat at greatly reduced rates to this company.

This approach encourages regeneration at the Enviropark and the surrounding area and leads to further employment.

An Integrated Approach