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Facility Process

The facility operates two (2) municipal solid waste (MSW)-fired combustors (MWCs) capable of processing 485 tons per day and 177,025 tons per year. The facility’s mass burn combustion system incorporates the O’Conner technology. Waste is combusted at furnace temperatures exceeding 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and reduced to an inert ash residue that is approximately 10 percent of its original volume. Before leaving the facility, combustion air is directed through technologically advanced air pollution control equipment including dry flue gas scrubbers and fabric filter baghouses. Facility emissions are strictly regulated by state and federal agencies as are handling and disposal of combustion ash. In addition to firing MSW, each unit is capable of firing auxiliary fuel, such as natural gas or fuel oil during startup and shutdown. The steam produced by the MWCs is sent to a turbine generator with a nameplate capacity of 12.25 Megawatts. The power is sold to National Grid.

View a diagram of the energy-from waste process

Pollution Control

  • Air emissions are controlled by high efficiency combustion within the furnace/boiler as well as, spray dryer absorbers, fabric filter baghouses and an activated carbon injection system.
  • Highly efficient combustion controls potential organic pollutants as well as carbon monoxide.
  • Spray dryer absorbers utilize a lime/water slurry mixture to control the boiler outlet gases. The lime slurry mixture neutralizes acid gases, such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen chloride and cools the outlet gases as well;
  • The fabric filter baghouse removes particulate matter (fly ash) and provides a secondary acid gas neutralization surface on the filter cake; and,
  • The activated carbon injection system controls mercury emissions.
  • Covanta MacArthur Renewable Energy, Inc. also utilizes state-of-the-art continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS). The CEMS measures the stack gas for emissions, such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, oxygen and opacity and allows the control room to continuously monitor the performance of each combustor unit. The CEMS data is reviewed and summarized into a report, which is routinely submitted to the New York Department of Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for review.