Energy-from-Waste Facility

Covanta Hempstead Company
Westbury, New York

Covanta Energy's facility in Hempstead, New York, opened for business in 1989. Covanta Hempstead, Long Island's largest Energy-from-Waste facility, provides environmentally safe municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal for the nation's most populous township. It marks the first United States installation of a globally successful mass burn technology by Deutsche Babcock Anlagen.

Covanta Hempstead accepts delivery of waste six days a week and processes 24 hours a day, daily. Steam created in the combustion process drives an 80 megawatt turbine generator, producing electricity for in-plant use and for sale to the local utility. Each of the three waterwall boilers is equipped with a dry scrubber system to control acid gases and a fabric filter baghouse to collect fine particulate, minimizing the release of pollutants to the atmosphere. The facility is the cornerstone of Hempstead's integrated waste service plan that includes an extensive curbside collection system for recyclable materials. 

In 1994, Covanta Hempstead was designated as a U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) Star facility, a program designed for exemplary worksites with comprehensive, successful safety and health management systems. Covanta Hempstead set the OSHA Star standard for all other Energy-from-Waste facilities in the nation, as it received the very first Star in the industry.

Technical Data

Facility Address:

600 Merchants Concourse
Westbury, NY 11590
(516) 683-5400

Site:

15 acres

Commercial Operation:

October 1989

Energy-from-Waste System:

Three, 835 ton-per-day waterwall furnaces with Deutsche Babcock Anlagen roller grates and ash handling system

Boiler Design:

855 pound per square inch gauge / 842°F superheater outlet conditions

Air Pollution Control Equipment:

Semi-dry flue gas scrubbers injecting lime slurry, reverse air fabric filter baghouses, urea-based selective non-catalytic reduction systems for nitrogen oxide control, and continuous emissions monitoring (CEM) system

Rated Refuse Capacity:

2505 tons per day

Energy Generation @ Rated Capacity:

up to 80 megawatts from one condensing steam turbine generator

Sold to:

Long Island Power Authority