POWER December 2012 - 30

TOP PLANTS
Coca-Cola/Mas Energy
Trigeneration Facility,
Atlanta, Georgia
Owner/operator: Mas Energy
By taking a waste product and converting it into a fuel source, the 6.5-MW Coca-Cola/Mas
Energy Facility became the first U.S. operational trigeneration project
fueled by landfill gas. Since March, the new system has provided electricity,
steam, and chilled water to the adjacent Coca-Cola Syrup Plant, satisfying most of
the plant's energy requirements and reducing its long-term energy costs.
By Angela Neville, JD
Courtesy: Mas Energy
I
t's the real thing. The Coca-Cola/Mas
Energy Trigeneration Facility in Atlanta
is a genuine renewable energy leader
that uses treated landfill gas as an energy
source for its operations. Using a trigeneration
or CCHP (combined cooling, heat, and
power) system, the new facility is projected
to generate at least 48 million kWh of onsite
renewable energy annually. The project
also provides Coca-Cola (the " offtaker " or
energy user) with the additional economic
benefit of leveling its energy costs over an
extended period of time.
Landfill gas from Republic Services'
Hickory Ridge Landfill in nearby Conley,
Ga., is the primary fuel source for the trigeneration
plant. " We anticipate that the plant
will use landfill gas as its primary fuel source
for the life of the project, " Jason Byars, vice
president of business & project development
at Mas Energy, told POWER in October.
28
" The plant also was designed and installed
with the ability to blend natural gas or use
it as a backup fuel when landfill gas is interrupted
to ensure relatively constant fuel input
to the plant. "
The new facility is gaining attention. For
example, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's Green Power Partnership recently
recognized the Coca-Cola Co. as the thirdlargest
on-site green power generator in the
U.S., and the trigeneration facility was a key
factor in that ranking.
Operational Overview
The system achieved commercial operation
on March 31, 2012, after approximately 15
months of construction and related activities.
" This is the first trigen plant built at the
offtaker's site. A significant challenge during
the construction phase was coordinating all
the construction activities so as not to interwww.powermag.com
fere
with or interrupt the offtaker's existing
operations. Coordination of tie-ins to existing
site utilities and the controls modifications
required to integrate new systems into the
existing schemes had to be done with careful
attention to detail, " Byars said.
The trigeneration plant has three GE Jenbacher
J616 reciprocating engine generators,
each rated at 2,175 kW for a gross output of
6,525 kW. The engines use selective catalytic
reduction (urea) and selective noncatalytic
reduction control technologies to mitigate the
plant's total emissions and thereby keep them
below major source thresholds. Fuel gas conditioning
equipment (used at the landfill site)
was provided by Venture Engineering for
removal of siloxane (a chemical potentially
harmful to the engines and post-combustion
emissions control devices), as were polishing
skids. Unison Solutions provided the compression
and dehydration equipment. The siPOWER
| December 2012
http://www.powermag.com
POWER December 2012

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