Waste-to-energy facility with a philosophical difference

Contrary to the philosophy of most waste-to-energy facilities, the Lakeland project was conceived as a means of producing low-cost power plant fuel, rather than as an alternate solid waste disposal method. When the city's department of electric and water utilities justified the construction of an additional steam-electric power plant, it decided to include facilities to process and burn municipal waste. The power plant is a conventional pulverized coal-fired steam-electric plant, with a 5 percent overpressure rating of 364MW. It is equipped with an electrostatic precipitator to remove stack gas particulates and a flue-gas desulfurization system to remove sulfur dioxide. Sludge from the desulfurization system is treated chemically to produce environmentally acceptable fill material. The municipal waste treatment plant's effluent is used as make-up water for the cooling tower. The boiler design permits up to 10 percent of the fullload heat input to be from shredded solid waste. No other known facility in the United States incorporates all of these features, or has included a solid waste processing and firing facility along with a utility-grade power plant. Cost for the power plant, not including coal reserves, railroad cars, or spare parts, was $217 million, with waste process and firing facilities anmore » additional $5.7 million.« less