CHP, Commercial, Distributed Generation, Industrial  -  January 14, 2016

BioHiTech America tests system to convert commercial food waste to energy

BioHiTech America is running a pilot program that takes food waste from a high-volume supermarket located in New Jersey and converts it to liquid effluent that can be fed into an anaerobic digester that generates renewable biogas.

BioHiTech America partnered with Natural Systems Utilities, Ridgewood Green RME and the Village of Ridgewood, NJ on the pilot project, which uses what BioHiTech calls an Eco-Safe Digester to perform the hydrolysis stage of anaerobic digestion at the point of origin, according to a company news release. Because the aerobic digestion process begins with the breakdown of solid organics to a liquid slurry, the effluent is able to be easily pumped and transported so it arrives at the AD facility in a "predigested" condition which allows for efficient feedstock transfer and eliminates the need for costly processing at the AD facility. 

"In a continual effort to offer our customers cost-effective solutions for food waste disposal, we have developed a process for those who want their food waste delivered to anaerobic digesters so that it can be converted to clean energy," BioHiTech Global — BioHiTech America's parent company — CEO  Frank Celli said in the release. 

"Early trials to receive the material and feed it to the digester have proven successful," Paul Knowles, director of technical operations of Natural Systems Utilities. "We are working with BioHiTech to expand the process so that they can offer this solution to new and existing customers."

Share this valuable information with your colleagues using the buttons below: