There is a growing interdependence between water and energy and the sustainable infrastructure needed for producing or treating both. Black & Veatch is a leader in the connectivity of water and energy, designing and overseeing construction for one of the largest energy-recovery projects of its kind on the U.S. East Coast at the Metropolitan District (MDC) in Hartford, Connecticut.
The facility converts renewable biosolids generated from wastewater treatment processing into power, significantly reducing the facility’s demand on the area’s power grid and reducing its overall energy costs. Biosolids produced at the 80-million-gallon-per-day facility, the largest of four wastewater treatment plants operated by the MDC, are burned in multiple hearth incinerators.
Black & Veatch implemented upgrades to the incinerators and processing system, as well as designing the energy recovery facility that captures heat from the incinerators to produce steam. That steam powers a turbine and produces an estimated 1.7 megawatts of electricity, approximately 40 percent of the facility’s power consumption.
This project draws on the expertise of Black & Veatch’s global workforce in biosolids, incineration facilities and power generation across the water and energy businesses. By harnessing energy produced on-site and utilizing it as a renewable energy source, the facility will remain an environmentally sound and socially responsible one. It provides more flexibility and efficiency and less dependence on oil and other nonrenewable energy sources.
