by MARY M. COX
Awareness of the benefits of waste to fuel conversion continues to grow.
Manufacturer List
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Two of the factors at play in this trend are the increasing costs associated with fossil fuels and landfill usage. As a result, there are also an increasing number of options available in the global market, offered by manufacturers of waste-to-fuel equipment.
Business development manager Greg Wright said that Granutech-Saturn offers many types and sizes of shredders and grinders for the waste to energy industries – including “our Saturn line of dual and quad shaft rotary shear shredders, our ram fed Roto-Grind – a single rotor grinder – and our line of Grizzly grinders that include the S50, M80 and the new S80. Processing volume for these machines may fall anywhere from 1 to 60 tons per hour. The machine we’d suggest for a given job would depend on factors such as ferrous contamination, incoming product size, final product size needed, if separation is required and throughput rate,” stated Wright.
He explained that waste to energy/alternative fuel can involve items such as tires, biomass and ordinary municipal solid waste, and depending on the energy generation methods used, the processing equipment required can vary greatly. Wright said, “Sometimes a large primary shred will work, and other times a much smaller shred will be required. This can translate into one big shredder or multiple stages of shredding and separation. Also, acquiring EPA or other environmental regulations can result in a lot of time and testing for permit approval. It can be a problem when identifying a location to install a new facility as most people do not favor living in close proximity to such a facility. A challenge relating directly to the material may also pop up, such as size of the material coming in and level of ferrous contamination. If some degree of presorting of the material can be done, it would be beneficial, but for many operators this is not an option.”
The waste to energy market is an expanding business segment at Granutech-Saturn. “We’re selling more equipment and taking increased inquiries regarding this application. A lot of companies that generate waste are balancing the financial aspects of paying to send the waste to the landfill versus turning the waste into a fuel product and profit center. The public’s aversion to new landfills also drives this growing market,” said Wright.
Lindner America has engineered and manufactured size reduction equipment since 1948 and claims to specialize in shredders and two step shredding systems for alternative fuel from municipal, industrial and commercial waste. “We were awarded the Global Fuels Award by the cement industry in 2009 and again this year. We provide development, construction, production, distribution and comprehensive customer service from one source,” said Andreas Schwarz, president. 
“In the late 1990s, we developed the revolutionary Komet shredder for secondary shredding for refuse derived fuel (RDF) production. The unique cutting rotor, super duty construction and infinite precision adjustment of the counter knives give this shredder a giant leap over the competition. With over 10 metric tons per hour output at an output size of less than 1”, Lindner has doubled the output of a typical shredder and has answered our customers’ requests for more output,” Schwarz noted.
He said the Komet not only offers double the output compared to most other shredders, it also lowers operating costs while producing more consistent and smaller fractions. Schwarz continued, “Since innovation is how Lindner thinks every day, we have since improved the machine several times. Some of the highlights are the maintenance door that opens the shredder for easy access to blade change, and the internal ram that keeps all material inside the shredder so that the area around the shredder stays cleaner. The latest upgrade to the Komet is a radically improved rotor that provides the shredder with 50 percent more output. One single Lindner Komet can produce up to 30 tons per hour of 2” minus RDF.”
The Jupiter pre-shredder made by Lindner offers 50 tons per hour capacity, and it is sold as a mate to the Komet. Schwarz explained that clients in Europe typically ask for 1” minus RDF so that it can be used in the main burner of a cement kiln. American clients typically ask for 2” minus product, which makes it suitable for a calciner. The Komet HP, HP for High Performance, is larger than the Komet and provides 50 percent more output as well. A Jupiter in conjunction with devices that remove undesirable materials such as metal, stones, batteries or other inert material and a Komet HP allows a client to make RDF that meets and exceeds industry standards at the lowest possible operating cost, at an output of up to 30 tons per hour.
With over 200 Jupiters and over 400 Komets now sold, Lindner shredders and two step shredding systems produce over 25 million tons of RDF every year.
James said the company delivers turnkey systems that process waste as a feedstock for the production of alternative fuels and energy. As an example of processing volume, Vecoplan’s alternative fuel feedstock preparation system at the City of Edmonton is capable of producing 100,000 dry metric tons of RDF per year.
Equipment included in their systems is determined by the composition of the waste feeding into the system and the specifications required on the material that feeds out. Machinery and technologies available for waste-to-fuel prep systems include receiving stations, primary size reduction, screening, air classification, metals separation, optical sorting, secondary shredding, storage, testing, metered feeding, conveying between workstations and integrated controls for the entire system.
“Most systems employ some, but not all of these. Knowing which to specify and how to incorporate the best technologies to get the job done is the key to success. Vecoplan is experienced in the design, engineering and construction of machinery and systems for commercial, industrial and municipal waste-to-fuel plants. Our systems operate in municipal facilities for the production of liquid transportation fuels from municipal solid waste residuals. We also offer equipment that is used in factories that process paper and plastics waste to produce alternative fuel pellets. Our machinery is incorporated into plants that convert agricultural wastes, such as corn stover, into cellulosic ethanol. Cement plants use Vecoplan RDF systems to produce fuel for their kilns. Some of the world’s largest wood pellet factories have Vecoplan machines, also.
“Bottom line – no matter what type of waste you’re talking about or what kind of fuel you’re making, no other company can provide the depth of experience that you get with Vecoplan,” James concluded.
August 2014 Edition of American Recycler News