Client Needs

The Albany/Millersburg Water Reclamation Facility wanted to upgrade their biosolids management.  As part of this process, the City hired Kennedy Jenks develop a plan for dewatering and composting.  ECS worked with the design team to develop process specifications and won the equipment contract through an RFP process.  In addition to the normal challenges of managing biosolids, the AMWRF project required:

• a phased system that can be efficiently expanded to accommodate future growth
• the ability to run positive or reversing aeration, with the intent of piloting what level of aeration is required for a future expansion
• integrating the controls into their existing SCADA system through a modbus connection.

Separate from ECS, the design team elected to cover the system with a fabric roof to simplify stormwater management. 

ECS Solution

ECS developed a reversing, biolayer covered aerated static pile system.  The oversized fans have capacity to accommodate adding more zones in the future, and the CompTroller enables the operator to select ‘positive-only’ mode for testing batches with single direction airflow.  ECS also worked with the operation team to identify a mix recipe that worked well to achieve rapid bio-oxidation.  This facility showcases a sustainable and effective approach to managing biosolids.

The Phase 1 system includes four zones, which can be operated as primary only (10,000 TPY mix capacity), or split into two primary + two secondary zones (5,000 TPY each). The phase 1 aeration system includes capacity for a future four zone expansion.