Transforming Organic Waste to Carbon-Negative RNG: GraniteFuel Engineering’s Key Role in the Rialto Bioenergy Facility’s Success
GraniteFuel Engineering’s cost-effective solutions have played a pivotal role in the success of the Rialto Bioenergy Facility, the largest organic waste to energy (w2e) facility in North America. This showcases the significant impact of GraniteFuel Engineering’s advanced biogas upgrading technologies in converting organic waste into renewable fuel. With its immense capacity to process and convert various waste streams, the Rialto Bioenergy Facility is leading the way in reducing methane emissions and producing carbon-negative renewable natural gas (RNG).
Project Overview:
The Rialto Bioenergy Facility was specifically designed to address the provisions of California’s Senate Bill 1383, which aims to combat methane emissions from landfills by diverting food waste and transforming it into renewable fuel. The facility encompassed multiple aspects, including waste treatment, biogas conditioning, and RNG upgrading for pipeline injection. The facility has the capability to process up to 1,000 tons per day (TPD) of diverse organic waste streams, generating approximately 1,000,000 MMBtu per year of carbon-negative RNG.
Organic waste conversion plays a critical role in the Rialto Bioenergy Facility’s waste conversion process. The system efficiently removes residual contaminants from the organic waste, creating an organic slurry that is fed into two 3.5-million-gallon food waste digesters. Biogas forms the foundation for renewable energy generation within these digesters through anaerobic digestion.
The Rialto Bioenergy Facility extends its waste-to-energy capabilities beyond organic waste by incorporating a comprehensive biosolids management system. With biosolids dryers and a pyrolysis system, the facility can convert up to 300 TPD of Class B dewatered biosolids from municipal wastewater treatment plants into fertilizer. This integrated approach ensures maximum resource recovery and contributes to the facility’s overall sustainability goals.
GraniteFuel Engineering’s expertise in biogas conditioning is instrumental in ensuring the quality and purity of the produced biogas. Through the removal of contaminants and upgrading processes, the biogas is transformed into high-quality RNG, meeting pipeline specifications. This RNG is then injected into the regional gas utility pipeline system, contributing to the renewable energy supply for the local community.
Environmental and Economic Benefits:
GraniteFuel Engineering’s involvement as a DCL Technology Group Company drives this decarbonization mission. By diverting organic waste from landfills and converting it into renewable fuel, the facility plays a vital role in reducing methane emissions and curbing climate change. The production of carbon-negative RNG contributes to the decarbonization of the regional gas supply, supporting California’s clean energy objectives.
Furthermore, the facility’s integrated biosolids management system reduces the environmental impact of wastewater treatment while generating valuable fertilizer. This closed-loop approach fosters circular economy principles and reduces the reliance on synthetic fertilizers, promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
Conclusion:
GraniteFuel Engineering played a crucial role in the Rialto Bioenergy Facility’s success by providing H2S removal and NH3 removal systems, also known as an ammonia scrubber, for biogas upgrading. The facility, which converts organic waste into sustainable fuel, required effective removal of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and ammonia (NH3) from the biogas to ensure high-quality and pipeline-spec renewable natural gas (RNG) production.
The H2S removal system supplied by GraniteFuel Engineering efficiently eliminated H2S, a corrosive and harmful compound present in biogas, thereby protecting downstream equipment from damage. The system achieved high removal efficiencies, exceeding 99%, ensuring that the RNG produced met stringent quality standards while mitigating potential operational issues and minimizing maintenance requirements.
Simultaneously, the NH3 removal system, or ammonia scrubber, provided by GraniteFuel Engineering addressed the challenge of ammonia contamination in the biogas. Ammonia is a common byproduct of organic waste decomposition, and its presence in biogas can adversely affect the overall quality and performance of the upgraded gas. The ammonia scrubber effectively removed ammonia from the biogas, ensuring that the produced RNG met pipeline specifications and reducing the environmental impact associated with ammonia emissions.
By incorporating GraniteFuel Engineering’s H2S removal and NH3 removal systems, the Rialto Bioenergy Facility was able to optimize the quality and purity of the biogas. This enabled the facility to generate high-grade RNG that could be directly injected into the regional gas utility pipeline system, contributing to the supply of clean and sustainable energy. The efficient removal of H2S and NH3 not only enhanced the environmental benefits of the facility but also minimized operational challenges, reducing maintenance costs and ensuring long-term operational efficiency.
Overall, GraniteFuel Engineering’s H2S removal and NH3 removal systems played a critical role in the biogas upgrading process at the Rialto Bioenergy Facility. These solutions enabled the facility to transform organic waste into carbon-negative RNG while meeting stringent quality standards, supporting the facility’s commitment to sustainability and renewable energy production.
