Dust Control Technology's DustBoss ™ DB-60

Dust Suppression At Yard Trimmings Site

St. Louis Composting operates a 4-acre yard trimmings transfer station in Maryland Heights, Missouri. It had been using hoses to manage dust, but the technique proved ineffective. “Aside from the need to have manpower dedicated to those hoses, the solid stream [of water] didn’t do a good job of controlling ground-level dust or preventing it from becoming airborne,” says Dave Gavlick, SLC’s operations manager. “And it tended to soak the yard debris, which added unnecessary weight to the loads being trucked out.”
Recently, SLC acquired Dust Control Technology’s DustBossTM DB-60, which oscillates 40 degrees to cover more than 20,000 square feet with a dense, dust-trapping mist. A series of 30 brass nozzles atomize water into droplets 50 to 200 microns in size. The DB-60 uses a 25 HP motor that generates 30,000 cfm of air flow to launch millions of droplets per minute. The carriage-mounted device is portable, allowing it to be located wherever it’s needed. SLC runs the DustBoss 8 to 10 hours a day on average, whenever loaders are working. www.dustboss.com

Milestone For Gas Engine

Operating since 2005, a GE Jenbacher J312 gas engine has surpassed 50,000 hours of service providing combined heat and power (CHP) via anaerobic digestion (AD) at Germany’s Bitburger Brauerei. Compared to the brewery’s previous steam boiler system, the digester/CHP system has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by an equivalent of 10,000 tons and primary energy costs by 10 percent. “The use of GE’s Jenbacher CHP technology enables us to meet our energy and environmental goals while also reducing costs,” said Johannes Hankes, head of central engineering at the brewery. Founded in 1817, the Bitburger Group operates five breweries across Germany.www.jenbacher.com

Compostable Bags In Croatia

The Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture University of Zagreb, the largest university in Croatia, has implemented a 3-bin collection system at 115 locations on campus for source separating compostables, recyclables and trash. EcoCortec’s EcoWorks compostable bags are being used to line the organics bin. As well as shrinking the university’s carbon footprint, organizers hope the program will educate students on the benefits of recycling. The EcoWorks bags will simplify the process of managing the organic waste stream. www.ecocortec.hr.

Biodegradable Agricultural Film

DaniMer Scientific’s 12991 Film Resins for agricultural applications recently was certified by Belgium’s Vincotte International to receive the “OK Biodegradable Soil Certification” label. The label guarantees the product will completely biodegrade in soil without adverse impact to the environment. These resins are also ASTM D6400 certified as compostable. Following their use to suppress weeds (and warm up the soil to extending the growing season in colder climates), the DaniMer agricultural films can be incorporated into the soil or composted. www.danimer.com

Taim Weser Rotopala in-vessel composting system

New MBT Plant In UK

The Essex Waste Partnership, made up of two borough councils in Essex, United Kingdom, recently contracted with a consortium of Urbaser Ltd. and Balfour Beatty Capital Ltd. to design and build a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant with maximum capacity of 417,000 metric tons/year. The plant will process residual waste collected curbside, commercial waste, street sweepings and nonrecyclable waste from regional household recycling centers. The consortium is installing Taim Weser’s Rotopala in-vessel composting (IVC) system to process the materials. It consists of fully automated trapezoidal windrow turners with a unique wheel turner design and an odor control system. The final output, which complies with the UK’s organic waste degradation requirements, will be landfilled. The Taim Weser technology is operating successfully at two MBT plants in Spain.www.taimweser.com