The three most important attributes of our Sustainable Engineered Fuel are the same that coal (and other solid fuel) plant operators told us are critical:
- High Energy
- Consistent Performance
- Clean and Safe
Providing 9,000 BTUs/pound, our SE3™ meets all those requirements and gives users a new and better approach to operational, sustainability and environmental goals.
It can extend the operating life of major assets, and bring customers into a mutually beneficial relationship with companies and communities facing a critical need to find paths to Zero Waste and landfill diversion goals.
SE3™ provides one of the best approaches available today to a win-win-win for people, profitability, and our planet.
Cleaner Fuel – Proven Performance
Thoroughly analyzed and site tested with material handling and combustion equipment
High Energy and Customizable for Plant Operations and Economics
Gives coal-fired facilities a new and proven path forward to more cleanly utilize their existing equipment
Consistent and Safe
Is pathogen free for safe handling and transport. Can stand alone as a high-BTU solid boiler fuel for steam or electrical generation
EPA: Non-Waste and NHSM Designation
Has EPA recognition as a non-waste fuel, avoiding incinerator regulations
Sustainable for a Cleaner Environment
Environmental benefits are very real and measurable, including CO2 reduction and RECs in many markets.
Patented Technology Makes SE3™ The Best Choice Available Today
Working with the research arm of the US Army Corps of Engineers, WastAway developed a new and innovative process to convert municipal sold waste to a clean, high-BTU fuel product that is safe for handling and storage.
The heart of our system is the Hydrolizer, a continuous-batch high-pressure steam technology that not only sterilizes our last stage material, but provides a consistency needed for use in solid fuel boilers.
Starting with normal Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), metals are recovered for recycling and glass, dirt and other inerts that do not contribute to fuel BTU value are removed. Remaining paper, wood, plastics and food waste are processed into a confetti-like material that is then converted in our patented Hydrolizer.
The resulting SE3™ fuel is extremely consistent in chemical and physical nature, and energy values measured in the same range as coal, around 9,000 BTUs per pound. It is pathogen- free, and can easily be pelletized or transported as a fluff-like material for co-firing with coal in most boiler feed systems.
The EPA concurs with independent lab testing that our product is a non-waste material and complies with designation as a Non Hazardous Secondary Material.
WastAway has invested years of the company’s time and considerable resources in extensive analyses of our SE3™ Fuel, calling on the expertise of the top testing companies in North America. We knew that bringing a new sustainable fuel product to market would require solid third-party information before customers would consider using the product in their operating systems.
The following provides a brief overview of major tests in both labs and in actual combustion equipment. Use this Fuel Link for more detailed information.
Canmet Energy (a testing division of Natural Resources Canada)
- Can be co-fired with coal without considerable impact on the combustion behavior of the primary coal
- No obvious impact on emissions of NOx and SO2, furans and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- Landfill diversion and displacing coal results in considerable reduction in greehhouse gas emissions
Southern Research Institute:
- Reduced NOx, SOx and CO2 when introduced with coal at 8% of total heating value
- No increase in mercury emissions by adding SE3™
- No appreciable increase in ash fusion temperature, expectations of no increase in slagging
430 MW Commercial Test Burn:
- Determined technically acceptable method of reducing CO2 emissions
- Operational impacts are manageable
- Minimal adverse impacts to heat rate, system performance, fly ash content, stack emisions
Additional Analysis and Tests:
- Koogler Engineering – Concluded SE3™ meets EPA non-waste standards
- Tetra Tech – Reviewed fuel and recommended safe handling practices
- Florida DEP – Approved recycling credits for SE3™
- Blue Source – Calculates 1.7 tons of GHG reductions per ton of SE3™ used
- Cement Companies – Tested and approved for use by LeHigh, Cemex, National, and Argos
Boiler and power plant managers are rightfully concerned that fuels introduced into their existing operations will deliver predictable and dependable BTU value, as well as maintain the integrity of their ability to deliver heat or power over time.
Because of the proven consistency of WastAway’s processing system, and the cellulosic conversion power of our multi patented Hydrolizer, SE3™ delivers a heat value of 9,000 BTUs per pound, and physical characteristics that present no problems for material handling equipment.
Furthermore, customers have the ability to “dial in” our process. They can order a highly stable and versatile final fuel material that resembles blown in insulation, or specify various sizes of pellets that will hold up well to storage and transport. Moisture content can be specified for the operation at hand, and our processing line can be set to include or exclude various types of plastics using proven technologies.
Fuel and operations professionals are also charged with meeting budgets and financial performance targets, and WastAway’s long-term contracts for MSW, as well as 16 years of commercial O&M experience, remove the risk too often found with fossil fuel commodities markets.
Protecting operating assets, personnel, and financial performance are all top priorities with power generation and industrial fuel users. Add to that a need to meet sustainability goals and remain a good corporate citizen, and fuel choices become critically important. Every new fuel option must pass several tests.
WastAway’s SE3™ product does just that.
Equipment: Extensive test burns co-firing our fuel with coal have shown no negative effects on boiler performance or emissions equipment. The high degree of consistency in SE3™, along with its high-BTU content, produce a very clean and predictable combustion signature.
Personnel: Our fuel, processed through high-pressure steam, has no pathogens. This means safe handling in storage and feed systems for all employees. It also means no odor or product deterioration when stored in normal dry conditions.
Financial Performance: Because the ingredients for SE3™ are obtained through long-term municipal and commercial contracts, the price of the fuel and its BTU contribution are extremely predictable and not subject to swings on fossil fuel pricing.
Corporate Citizenship: Preventing thousands of tons of municipal and commercial garbage from being dumped into landfills each year, and making beneficial use of that material is a win for SE3™ users from several perspectives. Meeting corporate goals for sustainability can now go hand-in-hand with increasing a company’s local and national image as a practitioner of modern circular economics and environmental stewardship.
In early 2019, The Environmental Protection Agency issued a comfort letter stating that it considered WastAway’s SE3™ as a “non-waste fuel.” This important regulatory designation provides users assurance that they will not be required to follow stringent rules which accompany use of a waste fuel, and combusting the fuel will not be considered a form of incineration.
This Non Hazardous Secondary Material (NHSM) concurrence letter followed testing and reporting due diligence by one of the nation’s top environmental testing laboratories, Kooglerand Associates. It means that the original waste has been processed in accordance with standards that mitigate the downside attributes of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF), and both emissions and residue testing meet Federal criteria.
SE3™ users now have assurance that they can replace (or augment) combustion of fossil fuels or biomass in a very sustainable manner, reducing GHG production and their carbon footprint.
Excerpts from the EPA Comfort Letter:
“…we believe that your operations…will transform waste into a processed, non-waste fuel appropriate for use in units designed to combust coal and wood or biomass.”
“Overall, based on this contaminant-to-contaminant comparison, all contaminants in the SE3™ are comparable to or lower than those contaminants in coal or wood/biomass.”
Whether SE3™ Fuel is deployed to provide a cleaner way to utilize coal, or stands alone as a solid fuel in boiler installations, the environmental benefits delivered are very real and measurable:
- Helping companies and communities reach Zero Waste goals by diverting up to 90% of garbage away from landfills and cleanly processing it into recyclable metals and clean, sustainable fuel
- Reducing GHG emissions by 1.7 metric tons for every metric ton of fuel produced
- Avoiding harmful methane emissions inherent in all landfill operations
- Offering opportunities for Renewable Energy Credits through the measurable reduction of CO2 (Carbon Footprint) in manufacturing or power generation
- Delivering the ultimate carbon sequestration strategy by leaving more fossil fuels in the ground through use of a sustainable fuel
