TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Suncoast Pinellas News

Dunedin Ponders Alternative Energy Source

ADVERTISEMENT

By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: December 29, 2007

DUNEDIN, Fla. - DUNEDIN, Fla. - DUNEDIN, Fla. - Dunedin hopes to get in on the ground floor of cutting-edge technology that City Commissioner Deborah Kynes notes "can make gold out of gross."

Usually only waste-water officials get excited treating biosolids, the end result of sewage disposal, but there are good financial and environmental reasons to plan for the future, advocates of the fledgling technology say.

First, it is getting increasingly expensive for cities to have the sludge hauled away for proper disposal. Second, there are fewer and fewer places willing to accept wastewater residue.

Building a traditional biosolid treatment plant is expensive and takes up a lot of space.

City Manager Robert DiSpirito said aides to state Sen. Mike Fasano, R- New Port Richey, recently encouraged the city to apply for a $2.6 million grant to test space-age technology that transforms biosolids into an alternative fuel.

The grant money would be used to design, build and operate a Plasma Arc Flow recycler biolsolids treatment system.

Last week city commissioners approved staff filing of the grant.

If selected, Dunedin will become a test site and demonstration center for this futuristic technology that eliminates costly sludge disposal.

The city would have to match the grant with $100,000 of its own funds.

The Plasma Arc Flow process, created by Tarpon Springs-based MagneGas Corp., turns liquid waste into environmentally friendly, usable byproducts such as natural gas and liquid fertilizer. The technology involves flowing the liquid waste through a submerged electric arc created by electrodes made from coal.

A byproduct of the process is a gaseous fuel known as MagneGas, the firm explains on its Web site.

MagneGas is a cost-competitive and environmentally friendly fuel that is interchangeable with natural gas, according to the company.

City officials say the process has been successful in pilot testing.

If the city receives the grant to test the Plasma Arc Flow process, it should be ready for start up by September 2010. There would then be a demonstration period of from 12 to 15 months.

The project's technical and economic viability would then be evaluated in 2012.

Commissioner Deborah Kynes said the MagneGas technology is "really cutting edge."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT