NEIWPCC is leading a multi-stakeholder effort, involving NEBRA, the Maine Water Environment Association, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and others, that proposes to create a “BioHub.”  The vision is for a center for researching and vetting emerging technologies for biosolids management and, especially, studying the potential for destroying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The BioHub would also serve as a repository for research and innovation on biosolids and PFAS. 

NEBRA members in Maine include numerous water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) that are desperate for more biosolids management options and cost relief. NEBRA also has members with potential technology solutions interested in having a place to demonstrate their technologies. The construction of some additional solids treatment capacity at the BioHub would be a bonus and something NEBRA is advocating.

The BioHub concept has widespread support from operators and regulators alike as a way to get to long-term, sustainable solutions for managing biosolids in Maine and the entire region.  NEIWPCC took the lead in developing a grant proposal for Congressional funding to make the BioHub a reality.  NEBRA wrote several letters of support for the grant application.

In the letter of support for the project, NEBRA Executive Director Janine Burke-Wells wrote that she has seen firsthand the need for such a facility.  She was referring to her tour, at the invitation of the Narragansett Bay Commission, of the pilot pyrolysis process installed at the Schenectady, New York, water resource recovery facility (WRRF). There is great support from the host community, Schenectady, to see the project succeed.  According to Wikipedia, Schenectady “has been shaping a new economy, based in part on renewable energy”. The project also has the support of Water Research Foundation (WRF) and is being watched closely by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development and especially the EPA’s PFAS Innovative Technology Team [PFAS Innovative Treatment Team (PITT) | US EPA].

The Schnectedy pyrolysis unit is part of a study by WRF (#5107) titled Understanding Pyrolysis for PFAS Removal Understanding Pyrolysis for PFAS Removal | The Water Research Foundation (waterrf.org).  According to the abstract, the primary objective of the project is to comprehensively study the performance and feasibility of a full-scale thermal drying and pyrolysis facility to process municipal sludge as the feedstock, with a focus on the ability to remove/destroy PFAS. To that end, the research team is focusing on numerous aspects of the pyrolysis system including the fate of selected PFAS compounds through the unit processes, mass balances for metals and organics, energy balances around the system and unit processes, determining the quantity and quality of synthetic gas produced, and life cycle costs as compared to conventional sludge treatment and disposal technologies. Listed research partners on this project include: Alexandria Renew Enterprises, BioWaste Pyrolysis Solutions (BP Solutions), Hazen and Sawyer, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Middlesex County Utilities Authority and the Portland Water District.

The problem for BP Solutions at the Schnectedy WRRF was the drying.  During the tour at the end of November, BP was not treating the solids produced at the WRRF but instead importing dried biosolids from a nearby biosolids pelletizing facility.  BP is currently operating the pyrolizer in batch mode as they continue to work out the bugs in this full-scale operation. 

NEBRA’s Burke-Wells sees the value of having a place for innovators and technology developers to get some help “working out the kinks” quickly and giving the technology some type of stamp of approval so that WRRFs can be assured it works the way the developers say it will work.  NEIWPCC is hoping the BioHub concept will be a model for other states. There could be more than one in the Northeast – for example, there could be a BioHub focused on thermal technologies located in one of the Southern New England states that rely heavily on incineration. Collaborations with local universities and WRRFs are being developed. For more information about the proposed BioHub for Maine, go to: Regional Residuals BioHub • NEIWPCC