Client Needs

Rapid growth in the Okanagan area of British Columbia pushed the Cities of Kelowna and Vernon to expand their biosolids composting operations. They joined forces to build a large facility and improve their economies of scale. Their experienced operators had a number of requirements, including:

• An aeration floor that would be easily loaded, unloaded, and maintained;
• No cables or obstructions around the piles and in the way of their front-end loaders;
• Automatic process control and data logging to meet regulatory requirements; and
• Readily expandable to keep up with the on-going growth.

ECS Solution

Once selected as the compost process equipment vendor, ECS began working with the client’s engineer to develop the detailed facility design. ECS produced the aerated static pile (ASP) aeration and control designs, and installation data that was included in the construction documents. Given the tight timeline, ECS simultaneously began fabrication of the aeration and control components, and coordinated deliveries with the construction schedule. Upon completion, ECS engineers and technicians provided facility start-up, staff training and technical support.

The Kelowna/Vernon Compost Facility was sized initially for 10.5 dt/day of biosolids in 12 individually controlled ASP zones. The facility is laid out for ready expansion to 36 zones. The aeration system features the ECS high efficiency aeration floor, reversing aeration, rugged low-speed stainless steel fans, and zone-to-zone heat sharing. The ECS CompTroller™ control system includes intuitive operator interface PC software, automatic temperature feedback based control zone control and monitoring, speed control of the fans for improved energy efficiency and control, and wireless temperature probes (RF TeleProbe™) for simplified operations.

In 2010 the Kelowna/Vernon facility was enlarged and after a second competitive bid ECS was chosen to provide an additional 24 process zones to accommodate the region’s growth. Today the facility processes approximately 110,000 tonnes/biosolids and yard waste.