|
 |
Bioreactor research will continue
|
| By: Mark J. Crawford, Editor |
October 18, 2007 |
|
The New River Regional Landfill's claim to fame, a grant-developed aerobic bioreactor, will continue to provide research opportunities for University of Florida staff and students.
The landfill association's executive director, Darrell O'Neal, said a long and fruitful relationship has been enjoyed with the university, even beyond the expiration of the bioreactor grant.
To continue that relationship, the landfill board budgeted $50,000 and approved a contract with the school of engineering at UF.
UF professor Timothy Townsend said the bioreactor seems to be accomplishing its purpose.
"The good news is, it looks like it's working very well. We're seeing very decomposed garbage," said Townsend, who even brought samples to the board meeting.
In addition to decomposition rate, students are looking at the amount of settlement taking place in the bioreactor cell.
The bioreactor works to speed decomposition of waste in the landfill by circulating leachate through the disposal cell. Accelerating decomposition helps maximize the capacity of the landfill, extending its life and delaying the need for new facilities. That saves money in terms of delayed construction costs while adding to the landfill's ability to generate new revenue by reusing the recovered disposal space.
It also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which could prove lucrative for the landfill. Several engineering firms have met with the board about entering the emissions trading market since every bit of greenhouse gas not released into the atmosphere at the landfill represents tradable credits that polluting industries would be willing to purchase to avoid costlier methods of limiting their own emissions.
Another avenue could result in the landfill gas being used as a source of biofuel to produce electricity for Gainesville Regional Utilities or another such power generator.
Since the bioreactor project was funded, international attention was focused on the demonstration project.
"The bioreactor alone did not get us a national award," O'Neal said of the 2004 recognition of the landfill as the best managed facility in North America, but it has had a lot to do with the building landfill's reputation as a proactive, state-of-the-art disposal facility.
Townsend said the landfill association's financial support would allow students to continue receiving real world experience and producing cutting-edge research. In exchange, they are essentially operating the bioreactor for New River-monitoring it, collecting samples, submitting reports and providing data that is being used throughout the industry.
Engineer Frank Darabi is pursuing a legislative allocation, that if received, would result in the state continuing to fund bioreactor activities, activities that he said do benefit the entire state.
In other business, O'Neal said the landfill received a stellar inspection by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
"It was equally as thorough an inspection as we've ever received, and there was absolutely no comments, no violations-nothing but good comments made about our facility," O'Neal said.
The facility also received a needed permit from DEP that mandates no additional requirements for testing, reporting, etc.
|
|
©Bradford County Telegraph 2009
|
|
|
