Academic literature on the topic 'Refuse-derived fuel fly ash'

Thermochemical conversion of raw municipal solid waste (MSW) is continuously growing in the context of contemporary technology. The quality of MSW needs an improved analysis to enhance the choice of energy exploitation and environmental assessment of fly and bottom ashes associated with thermochemical conversion. MSW was collected from solid waste disposal facilities (SWDF) in Cape Town in order to investigate heavy metal distributions in MSW obtained from SWDF. The MSW was pre-treated to improve its quality. The 7700 Series quadrupole ICP-MS solution method was used to determine the concentrations and distributions of some heavy metals from SWDF in Cape Town. This study assessed and quantified the distributions of heavy metal in MSW in the city of Cape Town. The accumulation of high concentrations of heavy metals in bottom ash residue from thermochemical conversion could be a good remedy for heavy metals control. High transfer coefficients of heavy metals were observed, and the heavy metals were mainly transferred to the bottom ash. Heavy metals such as Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in bottom ash are regarded as relatively unstable with the highest concentrations of Cu and Zn 1295 mg/Kg and 3347 mg/Kg, respectively. The heavy metals (especially Pb, Zn and Hg) emissions were technically monitored and controlled from escaping into the urban air-sheds atmosphere and prevented from their consequential secondary environmental and health implications.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the content and distribution of some elements in coal from two bituminous coal basins and in fly ash and slag derived from combustion of the coals in six power plants in Poland. The petrographic composition and distribution of elements were characterized in the tested samples, using reflected light microscope, X-ray powder diffractometer, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray. The highest content of elements in coal occurs in siderite. In Al-Si particles, as well as in magnetite with skeletal and dendritic structure crystallized on the surface of Al-Si microspheres or cenospheres included in fly ash size < 0.05 mm and in the magnetic fraction of slag, the highest content of elements was noted. Due to the content of elements, fly ash and slag were considered to be neutral for the soil environment. Correlations, which have not been described before, have been observed between the likely mode of binding of some elements in coal and their distribution in fly ash and slag. These correlations could be of particular value when predicting the content and distribution of elements in combustion residues and in the assessment of their environmental toxicity.

Abstract The feasibility of industrial waste fly ash as an alternative fluxing agent for silica in carbothermal reduction of medium-low-grade phosphate ore was studied in this paper. With a series of single-factor experiments, the reduction rate of phosphate rock under different reaction temperature, reaction time, particle size, carbon excess coefficient, and silicon–calcium molar ratio was investigated with silica and fly ash as fluxing agents. Higher reduction rates were obtained with fly ash fluxing instead of silica. The optimal conditions were derived as: reaction temperature 1,300°C, reaction time 75 min, particle size 48–75 µm, carbon excess coefficient 1.2, and silicon–calcium molar ratio 1.2. The optimized process condition was verified with other two different phosphate rocks and it was proved universally. The apparent kinetics analyses demonstrated that the activation energy of fly ash fluxing is reduced by 31.57 kJ/mol as compared with that of silica. The mechanism of better fluxing effect by fly ash may be ascribed to the fact that the products formed within fly ash increase the amount of liquid phase in the reaction system and promote reduction reaction. Preliminary feasibility about the recycling of industrial waste fly ash in thermal phosphoric acid industry was elucidated in the paper.

Research estimated toxicity of refuse-derived fuel fly ash (RDF-FA) on two earthworms species, Lumbricus terrestris and Eisenia foetida. Specific objectives were to: (1) Compare their 14-day LC50s under light and dark conditions; (2) separate toxicity due to osmotic, pH and physical factors from that of heavy metal contaminants; (3) compare relative differences of artificial soil and commercial soil as exposure media for evaluating toxicity to earthworms. The 14-d LC50s for L. terrestris in dark and light were 57.0 and 48.34 % RDF-FA, and 59.25 and 41.00 % RDF-FA for E. foetida using artificial soil. All of the toxicity resulted from heavy metals within the RDF-FA. Using L. terrestris, the LC50s for artificial soil and commercial soil were 52.30 and 64.34%.

This work includes two different areas of research. Both areas are related to the combustion of the binder-enhanced densified refuse derived fuel (bdRDF) with high sulfur coal and examining trace elements. The first area of this work involved studying the trace metals in the combustion gas of bdRDF/coal blend and the effect of the binder, CA(OH)2, on reducing the trace elements emissions. The second area of work involved studying the trace elements in the fly ash and the effect of the dRDF and the binder of trace metals.

Ashes have properties that can be exploited in various applications, e.g. some ashes can be used in the construction of barriers in a landfill final top cover. A landfill top cover is a multilayer construction that protects the environment in several ways, for instance hindering gas emissions from the landfill body and water infiltration into the waste.Impervious natural materials like clay, synthetic materials like geomembranes or bentonite carpets, geosynthetic clay liners or combinations of such materials are commonly used in landfill top cover constructions. Since differential settlement may occur and the lifetimes of the synthetic materials are uncertain, it is advantageous to use thick mineral constructions. There is a great need for these materials, and substantial savings of resources can be made if alternative waste materials, like ashes, are used. Currently, ashes are either landfilled or used as construction materials. They are subject to weathering processes, including physical, chemical and mineralogical changes caused (inter alia) by fluctuations of temperature and humidity, atmospheric gases or acid rain. Ashes contain various potentially hazardous and non-hazardous chemical compounds. Therefore, precautions must be taken to avoid leaching of substances such as heavy metals into the surrounding environment. Mineral phases that are initially present and/or that form during the ageing are primarily responsible for the immobilization or leaching of diverse metals and salts. Newly formed mineral phases like clay minerals are of main interest, because of their very high cation exchange capacity, swelling and expansion properties.The conditions found in a landfill environment are likely to favour clay mineral formation. This thesis is based on studies on the effects of accelerated ageing on refuse-derived-fuel (RDF) fly ashes, in experiments under controlled laboratory conditions, intended to derive models to predict the stability of RDF fly ashes used in a landfill liner and the mineralogical changes that occur in them. A reduced factorial design was applied, followed by multivariate data analysis, to evaluate the effects of five factors - carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, temperature, relative air humidity (RH), time and the quality of added water - on mineral transformations within the ashes, and their acid neutralization capacity (ANC) and leaching behaviour.Minerals (ettringite and hydrocalumite) promoting the immobilization of hazardous compounds were found in both fresh ash and ash aged under atmospheric conditions, but these minerals disappeared upon carbonation. The main phases in ash at 20% and 100% CO2 were calcite, gypsum/anhydrite and vaterite. The abundance of gypsum and anhydrite was directly related to the temperature at which ashes were aged. The major mineral phases detected in ashes aged under 20% CO2, 65% RH and 30°C (corresponding to conditions generally found in a landfill cover) were calcite and gypsum/bassanite. The pH values of these ash specimens ranged from 7.2 to 7.6, indicating advanced carbonation. Ageing decreased pH values from 12.4 to 7.2, consequently affecting the leaching behaviour of most chemicals measured in the leachates. Levels of Ba, Ca, Cl, Cr, Cu, Pb, K and Na decreased over the study period while those of Mg, Zn and SO4 increased. No clay minerals were detected by XRD and SEM analysis in either fresh or aged ashes. However, geochemical modelling indicated that such minerals may precipitate. The modelling also indicated that clay minerals like saponite, vermiculite, chrysotile and hydrotalcite were likely to precipitate in most leachates from ash aged for 3, 10 and 22 months. Smectite, montmorillonite and illite may precipitate in leachates of ash aged for 31 months. The formation of smectite, montmorillonite and vermiculite would be advantageous due to their very high cation exchange capacities, which would favour the stabilization/immobilization of heavy metals in the mineral phases.
Askor har egenskaper som kan användas, en del askor kan t ex användas vid konstruktion av tätskikt i en deponisluttäckning. En deponisluttäckning är en flerskiktskonstruktion som skyddar miljön från t.ex. växthusgaser från deponin och hindrar vatteninträngning till avfall. Naturliga täta material som lera, syntetiska som geomembraner eller bentonitmattor eller en kombination av dessa är vanligt förekommande i sluttäckningskonstruktioner på deponier. Eftersom differentialsättningar kan uppkomma och de syntetiska materialens livslängd är osäker, är det en fördel om tjocka mineraliska konstruktioner kan användas. För dessa är materialbehovet stort och det är en stor resursbesparing om alternativa material, som aska, kan användas.Aska utsätts för åldringsprocesser både när den deponeras eller användas som byggmaterial. Materialet genomgår fysiska, kemiska och mineralogiska förändringar orsakade av t.ex. variationer av temperatur och luftfuktighet, atmosfäriska gaser eller surt regn. Aska innehåller olika farliga och ofarliga kemiska föreningar. Därför måste försiktighetsåtgärder vidtas för att undvika läckage av tungmetaller i miljön. Befintliga och nybildade mineralfaser är främst ansvariga för immobilisering eller utlakning av olika metaller och salter. Nybildade mineralfaser som lermineraler är av stort intresse på grund av deras mycket höga katjonutbyteskapacitet, svällnings- och expansionsegenskaper. Förhållandena som råder i en deponisluttäckning förväntas gynna lermineralbildning.Denna avhandling är resultatet av studier av effekten av accelererad åldring på flygaska från energiutvinning. För att förutsäga stabiliteten i flygaska som används i ett deponitätskikt har laboratorieexperiment utförts för att studera effekterna av accelererad åldring under kontrollerade förhållanden. Ett reducerat faktorförsök har gjorts för att utvärdera påverkan av fem faktorer: koldioxid (CO2), temperatur, relativ luftfuktighet (RH), tid och kvalitet på tillsatt vatten. Inflytandet av dessa faktorer på mineralomvandlingen i askan, askans syraneutraliserande förmåga (ANC) och urlakningsbeteendet har analyserats och utvärderats med hjälp av bl a multivariat dataanalys. Mineraler (ettringit och hydrocalumit) som främjar fixeringen av farliga ämnen finns i både färsk aska och prover som åldrats under atmosfäriska förhållanden men försvann efter karbonatisering. Aska som åldrats under 20 % och 100 % CO2 hade kalcit, gips / anhydrit och vaterit som huvudmineraler. Förekomsten av gips och anhydrit var direkt relaterad till temperaturnivån som askan hade åldrats i. Aska som åldrades under 20 % CO2, 65 % RH, 30 °C temperatur (motsvarande förhållandena i en deponitäckning) hade kalcit och gips/bassanit som huvudmineraler. pH-värdena i proverna varierade från 7,2 till 7,6 vilket indikerar en långt fortskriden karbonatisering. Åldrandet sänkte pH-värdena från 12,4 till 7,2 och påverkar därmed urlakningsbeteendet för många lakvattenkomponenter. Barium, Ca, Cl, Cr, Cu, Pb, K och Na minskade under tiden, medan Mg, Zn och SO4 ökade jämfört med den färska askan. Inga lermineraler upptäcktes med hjälp av XRD och SEM i varken färsk eller åldrad aska. Geokemisk modellering visade dock möjligheten för dessa mineraler att bildas och fällas ut. Lermineraler som saponit, vermikulit, krysotil och hydrotalcit kunde enligt beräkningarna bildas i lakvatten från de flesta proverna som åldrades i 3, 10 och 22 månader. Smectit, montmorillonit och illit kan bildas i lakvatten från 31 månaders åldrad aska. Bildning av smectit, montmorillonit och vermikulit skulle var värdefull på grund av deras mycket höga katjonutbyteskapacitet, vilket gynnar stabilisering / immobilisering av tungmetaller i askan.
Godkänd; 2010; 20101020 (evebra); LICENTIATSEMINARIUM Ämnesområde: Avfallsteknik/Waste Science and Technology Examinator: Professor Anders Lagerkvist, Luleå tekniska universitet Diskutant: Professor Britt-Marie Steenari, Chalmers tekniska högskola Tid: Onsdag den 17 november 2010 kl 09.30 Plats: F1031, Luleå tekniska universitet

This paper presents data from a recent investigation of the character of ash deposition in the convective zone (547°C to 338°C) in a 0.1 MWth bench-scale FBC system at Western Kentucky University. The ash deposit samples were collected during co-firing experiments using two coals with various blends of a refuse-derived fuel (RDF). A low sulfur coal, a high sulfur coal, and commercially available RDF sample were selected to investigate the influence of sulfur and chlorine in the fuels on the formation of ash deposits. Limestone was added to the combustor as the bed material and desulfurization sorbent. The results showed that the formation of ash deposits had a close relationship to the active fine lime particles produced from the limestone. An increase in the concentration of SOx in the flue gas restricts the formation of the ash deposits because of the reaction between SOx and the fine lime particles, which drops the adhesive force of the fine lime particles by reducing the contact area among the particles. With an increase in the content of the RDF in the fuels, the rate of deposit of ash decreased because of the higher content of chlorine and aluminum, which also decreased the contact area among the particles, leading to a low deposition rate of the fly ash.

For the refuse-to-energy industry, “Saving Energy with Brick, Refractory, Insulation and Lagging (BRIL)” is as simply as understanding it’s refuse boiler. A refuse-fired boiler has many components to make it do what it is supposed to do. BRIL is a key component of the boiler just as important as the tubes that carry the water &/or steam, the soot blowers that keep the unit free of fly ash or dust, the burners that burn the fuel efficiently, the economizers that recover heat and pre-heat the water, and many more such systems found on, in and around the boiler. They all help keep the boiler operating thermally and energy efficient. Proper BRIL material selection and installation can have an energy savings of 5–7% per year in fuel consumption. That is why experts say, “brick, refractory, insulation, and lagging (BRIL) installed to save energy, saves money at a rate that is essential for efficient plant operation.”

Salt-laden hog fuel (wood waste) is burnt in a fluidized bed boiler converted from a travelling grate boiler to generate steam for a specialty paper mill. The converted boiler has a design capacity of 156 t/h of steam from hog and actual generation has varied from 76 to 107% of the design capacity. The conversion has resulted in more stable operation, more complete combustion, less ash production, reduced boiler maintenance, and lower fossil fuel consumption. Tire derived fuel (TDF) is used as a supplementary fuel. With an energy content of 33 GJ/t for TDF, as compared to 8 GJ/t for wet hog, addition of 2–5% TDF by weight increased the bed temperature by an average of 55°C, stabilized and improved the combustion of low quality hog and high moisture content sludge. The impact of TDF addition was studied in detail. Stack emissions were tested and bottom and fly ash samples were analyzed. Although TDF contains 1% zinc and 5 to 7% steel wire, addition of TDF did not affect total particulate emissions from the boiler. SO2 emissions were increased due to the high sulfur content of TDF (1.6%). A good correlation was obtained from the test results, showing that the addition of TDF resulted in a reduction in both the total formation and the stack emissions of dioxins and furans.

The Miami-Dade 3,000 tpd Refused-Derived Fuel (RDF) facility is located in Miami-Dade County, FL and is operated by Montenay Power, a Veolia Environmental Services Company. A team composed of plant staff and outside experts underwent a thorough equipment-by-equipment review of the Air Pollution Control (APC) system and identified a series of low cost design and operational improvements to the lime slakers, the spray dryers and the baghouses. These improvements were implemented over the course of several months and resulted in a drop in lime consumption, in the economy of one and a half air compressor units, and in reduced APC related plant downtime and maintenance costs. This paper describes several key improvement projects (including the upgrade of the spray nozzles, the change in slaking water quality and the fly ash fluidization project), detailing the initial problem, the chosen solution, the difficulties encountered during implementation and the achieved benefits.

In recent years, global warming and climate change caused by the greenhouse gas emissions has given rise to widespread concerns. CO2 has been considered as the principal greenhouse gas of interest, and fossil-fuel-fired power plants have been deemed as the largest stationary sources of CO2 emission. It is imperative to capture CO2 from these sources to reduce the global CO2 emissions. Lately, capturing CO2 from flue gas using solid absorbents shows promising for CO2 abatement. For the cost-effective CO2 capture process and the recycling of environmental pollutants, deprecated resources have been utilized for CO2 capture from flue gas. In this work, fly ashes derived from different raw materials were tried as solid CO2 sorbents for flue gas treatment. To improve their CO2 capture capacities, the ashes were modified by different polyamines. An experimental demonstration on CO2 capture behaviors of fresh ashes and modified sorbents in simulated flue gas atmosphere of 40°C, 15% CO2 + 15% H2O and balanced N2 was presented in detail with a fixed-bed reactor system. CO2 capture capacities of fresh ashes were calculated as 0.56 mmolCO2/g, 0.32 mmolCO2/g, 0.44 mmolCO2/g and 0.83 mmolCO2/g, respectively. By contrast, CO2 capture capacities of amine-modified samples had been enhanced as 0.38 mmolCO2/g, 0.65 mmolCO2/g, 1.07 mmolCO2/g, 0.85 mmolCO2/g and 1.17 mmolCO2/g. The optimal sample of TEPA-modified biomass ash (TEPA-BA) with CO2 capture capacity of 1.17mmolCO2/g was screened. The optimal candidate was then selected for further investigation of the effects of temperature, CO2 concentration and H2O concentration on its CO2 capture behaviors. The results indicated that CO2 capture capacity would increase with the increase of temperature in the range of 30 to 40 °C and decrease with the increase of temperature in the range of 40 to 60°C, increase with the increase of CO2 concentration in the range of 5% to 20%, increase with the increase of H2O concentration in the range of 0% to 15% and decrease with the increase of H2O concentration in the range of 15% to 20%. The results in this work could provide basic data as a guidance for further applying the sorbents in practical operations.

Combustion of waste derived fuels in fluidized bed boilers may result in fly ashes containing increased amounts of lead and zinc, besides the common alkali and alkaline earth metal compounds. Although the absolute concentrations of lead and zinc may be relatively low, around 1%, in the bulk ash, they may induce unwanted effects in combustors, partly due to their significant enrichment in the fly ash. First, lead and zinc in fly ashes may lead to unwanted heavy metal emissions. Further, they can also alter the behavior of the fly ash and cause it to become sticky and possibly corrosive. This paper discusses the mechanism of volatilization of lead and zinc and stickiness properties of their fly ash compounds under different conditions, based on data from a FBC gasifier using waste fuels with significant amounts of lead and zinc. Advanced thermochemical calculations using the data bases developed at A˚bo Akademi show that both lead and zinc can form volatile compounds and thus be strongly enriched in the fly ash. They can be volatilized as elemental gases, Pb(g) and Zn(g), or they can form gaseous chlorides, PbCl2(g) and ZnCl2(g). But they can also form non-volatile oxides. Thus their behavior is very dependent on the combustion conditions, particularly on the availability of chlorine. This way there is also a direct coupling of the volatilization behavior of lead and zinc with the chemistry of the alkali metals and calcium, all of which govern the availability of chlorine. Simplified thermochemical diagrams are shown to explain the complex interaction of the lead and zinc chemistry with the rest of the flue gas and fly ash chemistry. The thermochemical data can be used to explain the practical results from full scale boilers.

The Maine Energy Recovery Company is a refuse derived fuel (RDF) waste to energy facility that began commercial operation in 1987. The facility consists of an RDF production operation, two B&W boilers which produce 210,000 lb/hr of steam at 650 psig/750F with a design Furnace Exit Gas Temperature of 1700 F, and a 22 MW steam turbine generator. Since startup, the facility has suffered fireside erosion/corrosion of the waterwalls, superheater, and generator bank hot side sections. Through the years, Maine Energy has made various operational and design changes in order to improve combustion and overall boiler availability. While combustion has improved as evidenced by improved emissions, reduced supplemental fuel usage, and lower ash production, superheater availability has suffered. At the same time reliability of the waterwall and generating bank components have improved. This paper will present a history of Maine Energy’s efforts to improve its superheater availability including a summary of the tube wastage rates for various superheater alloys, as well as Maine Energy’s plans for its superheaters.

In the summer of 2009, Governor John P. DeJongh, Jr. announced that the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) had just signed two 20-year Power Purchase Agreements, and the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority (VIWMA) had signed two 20-year Solid Waste Management Services Agreements with affiliates of Denver-based Alpine Energy Group, LLC (AEG) to build, own, and operate two alternative energy facilities that will serve the residents of St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas. The alternative energy facilities, to be built on St. Croix and St. Thomas, have a projected cost of $440 million and will convert an estimated 146,000 tons per year of municipal solid waste into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) using WastAway Services® technology, which will be combined with petroleum coke as fuel in fluidized bed combustion facilities to generate steam and electric power. These sustainable projects will provide 33 MW of electric power to St. Thomas and St. John and 16 MW of electric power to St. Croix, and will help to provide long-term cost stability for electric power and solid waste management in the Territory. Construction is expected to start in spring 2010 with an anticipated completion date during the fourth quarter of 2012. This procurement is a significant achievement for the U.S. Virgin Islands. When the projects are fully implemented, they will allow the Territory to reduce its dependence on oil, recover the energy value and certain recyclable materials from its municipal solid waste, and divert this waste from landfill. Since VIWMA has the responsibility to collect and/or dispose of solid waste year-round, having a system incorporating multiple solid waste processing lines and an adequate supply of spare parts on hand at all times is crucial to meeting the daily demands of waste receiving and processing, and RDF production. Also, with the location of the US Virgin Islands in a hurricane zone, and with only one or two combustion units available in each Project, the ability to both stockpile waste pre-RDF processing and store the produced RDF is very important. Gershman, Brickner & Bratton, Inc. (GBB)’s work has included a due diligence review of the Projects and providing professional support in VIWMA’s negotiations with AEG. GBB’s initial primary assignment centered on reviewing the design and operations of the RDF processing systems that will be built and operated under the respective Service Contracts. VIWMA needed to undertake a detailed technical review of the proposed RDF processing system, since this was the integration point of the waste collection system and waste processing/disposal services. GBB, in association with Maguire, was requested to provide this review and present the findings and opinions to VIWMA. In the completion of this effort, which included both a technical review and participation in negotiations to advance the Service Contracts for the Projects, GBB made direct contact with the key equipment suppliers for the Projects proposed by AEG. This included Bouldin Corporation, the primary RDF processing system supplier, with its patented WastAway technology, and Energy Products of Idaho, the main thermal processing equipment supplier, with its fluidized bed combustion technology and air pollution control equipment. Additionally, since the combustion systems for both Projects will generate an ash product that will require marketing for use and/or disposal over the term of the Service Contracts, GBB made contact with LA Ash, one of the potential subcontractors identified by AEG for these ash management services. Due to the nature of the contract guarantees of VIWMA to provide 73,000 tons per year of Acceptable Waste to each Project for processing, VIWMA authorized GBB to perform a current waste stream characterization study. Part of this effort included waste sorts for one week each in February 2009 on St. Croix and March 2009 on St. Thomas, with the results shared with VIWMA and AEG, as compiled. The 2009 GBB waste stream characterization study incorporated historical monthly waste weigh data from both the Bovoni and Anguilla Landfills that were received from VIWMA staff. The study has formed a basis for continuing to augment the waste quantity information from the two landfills with the additional current monthly results compiled by VIWMA staff going forward following the waste sorts. The final GBB report was published in December 2009 and includes actual USVI landfill receipt data through August 31, 2009. The information contained in this document provides the underpinnings to allow for better tracking and analysis of daily, weekly and monthly waste quantities received for recycling, processing and disposal, which are important to the overall waste processing system operations, guarantees and cost projections. GBB’s annual projections are that the total waste on St. Croix is currently over 104,000 tons per year and over 76,000 tons per year on St. Thomas. The thermal processing technology selected for both Projects is a fluidized bed process, employing a heated bed of sand material “fluidized” in a column of air to burn the fuel — RDF and/or Pet Coke. As such, the solid waste to be used in these combustion units must be size-reduced from the myriad of sizes of waste set out at the curb or discharged into the large roll-off boxes or bins at the many drop-off sites in the US Virgin Islands. While traditional RDF would typically have several days of storage life, the characteristics of the pelletized RDF should allow several weeks of storage. This will be important to having a sound and realistic operating plan, given the unique circumstances associated with the climate, waste moisture content, island location, lack of back-up disposal options and downtime associated with the Power Generation Facility. During the negotiations between AEG and VIWMA, in which GBB staff participated, in addition to RDF and pelletized RDF as the waste fuel sources, other potential fuels have been discussed for use in the Projects and are included as “Opportunity Fuels” in the Service Contracts. These Opportunity Fuels include ground woody waste, dried sludges, and shredded tires, for example. Therefore, the flexibility of the EPI fluidized bed combustion boilers to handle multi-fuels is viewed as an asset over the long term, especially for an island location where disposal options are limited and shipping materials onto and off of each island is expensive. This presentation will provide a unique behind-the-scenes review of the process that led to this historic agreement, from the due diligence of the proposed technologies, to implementation planning, to the negotiations with the contractor. Also discussed will be the waste characterization and quantity analysis performed in 2009 and the fast-track procurement planning and procurement of construction and operating services for a new transfer station to be sited on St. Croix.