Converting the gases

Frederick County embarks on money-making environmental initiative

By Alex Bridges -- abridges@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- New equipment at the Frederick County Regional Landfill turns its greenhouse gases into power and money.

Officials held a ribbon-cutting and switch-flipping ceremony at the landfill Tuesday afternoon to start up the Landfill Gas Energy project.

The joint venture between the county's Department of Public Works and SCS Engineers and SCS Field Services cost $4.5 million. Joe Wilder, the department's deputy director, explained the landfill paid for the project through its own budget and with no local tax dollars.

As the waste in the landfill decomposes the process generates carbon dioxide and methane -- both considered "greenhouse" gases. To capture the gas, wells are drilled into the landfill at various points, according to Darrin D. Dillah, vice president with SCS Engineers. A vacuum draws the gas from the wells, located in closed and active parts of the landfill, to the power generation facility, Dillah explained. Equipment filters and removes water from the gas, which is then chilled to 40 degrees and compressed before being sent to the engines.

Each of the two internal combustion engines has 20 cylinders and runs just under 1,500 horsepower, Dillah said. The engines turn shafts that generate power. Each engine generates about 1 megawatt of electricity, which is sent to transmission lines and later distributed to the power grid, Dillah said.

Standing at the facility, Dillah further explained the process, pointing to the pipes and other equipment involved.

"It's going into the grid but it's whatever the path of least resistance, whatever's closest to us is who gets that power," Dillah said. "The actual electrons made here is going to the homes and industry nearby."

Richard Shickle Sr., chairman of the Board of Supervisors, standing inside one of the generators, turned on the machines, which started whirring and rumbling slowly but soon grew faster.

"What we like is these engines are so quiet, when you close the doors, we're not going to get complaints about the noise," Wilder said.

SCS has served as the engineering and contracting firm for the project.

"The technology's been around for a long time," said Jim Walsh, with SCS. "There is a push of a lot of these projects and green energy is the hot topic, right?

"It's a good marriage of environmental protection and energy, and usually the two of them seem like they're in conflict with one another, but here it's a great marriage which actually reduces the pollution that would otherwise occur and converts it to energy, and it does it in a profitable manner by selling it to the electric utility here," Walsh said.

The project is another step in the county's work toward helping the environment, Shickle said.

"Today, Frederick County and the Frederick County landfill staff are walking the walk when it comes to renewable energy," Shickle read from a statement earlier. "In the last decade the awareness of one's carbon footprint and the push to reduce greenhouse gases has steadily grown."

For 10 years, the landfill has voluntarily destroyed its landfill gases, reducing the greenhouse gas emissions and its "carbon footprint," Shickle noted.

"These voluntary actions have put Frederick County ahead of the curve," Shickle said.
Construction of the facility commenced this spring and ended ahead of schedule. But work on the idea for the project began five years earlier, from feasibility studies and design plans to bidding on the contracts, officials said. It took about two years of that time to receive the necessary permits to operate the facility.

Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, which provides power to part of the county, will be buying the power generated by the facility, according to Wilder.

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