Atlanta-based EnerTech Environmental is currently in the construction phase of the first commercial biomass-to-energy plant in Rialto, Calif. The trademarked SlurryCarb facility will convert 675 wet tons of biosolids (processed municipal sewage sludge) per day from five municipalities in the Los Angeles region into approximately 145 tons of renewable fuel per day.

The residual ash from the renewable fuel, trademarked E-Fuel, will be incorporated into a local cement kiln as an alternative to coal. The facility’s customers include the Orange County Sanitation District, the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County and the cities of Rialto, Riverside and San Bernardino, Calif.

The $150 million project was financed through private equity and a combination of tax-exempt and taxable bonds. Deutsche Bank has purchased all of the bonds. A formal groundbreaking for the project was held in May. “We are excited to have reached this milestone,” said EnerTech President Kevin Bolin. “We believe, along with all of our stakeholders, that this is the first of many SlurryCarb facilities.”

EnerTech’s advanced process technology equipment is what sets this project apart from other waste-to-biomass conversion projects, according to Brian Dooley, manager of marketing and special projects for EnerTech. Since biosolids are typically 80 percent water, EnerTech’s processing technology uses heat and pressure to initiate a molecular rearrangement, which breaks down the cell wall of the biosolids, making the material less hydrolytic. “Without evaporating the water, we’re able to ‘dewater’ the biosolids to around 50 percent solids prior to drying, which greatly reduces the required energy consumption,” Dooley said.

Although the SlurryCarb facility will be powered by natural gas, the E-Fuel could also serve as an energy feedstock. “Because we are a net energy producer, even if we consume our own E-Fuel to fire the process, we’re still left with excess E-Fuel at the end,” Dooley said.