Cover Story
ONONDAGA COUNTY
RESOURCE RECOVERY FACILITY PROCESS AND TECHNOLOGY
President’s Message
by Meg Harris
Geologic News of Interest Compiled by Nancy Gensky
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS AND GLOBAL WARMING
CNYAPG MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME IS HERE by Gerry Gould
THE COLONEL'S TOMB by Robert Titus, Hartwick College
The Onondaga County Resource Recovery Facility (OCRRF) is a 990 ton per day (TPD) Waste-to-Energy Facility. The facility consists of three independent 330 TPD units. In each of the three boilers, the combustion of refuse by the Martin Stoker System converts the chemical energy in the refuse to thermal energy in the furnace. Each boiler is composed of furnace water walls forming an enclosed area for combustion of refuse and a flow path for the hot flue gases. Water filled tubes line the furnace walls and are located in the path of the flue gases in the economizer, convection and superheater sections of the boiler. The water-filled tubes provide surface area for heat transfer from the hot flue gases to the water inside the tubes. In order to utilize this heat energy for maximum facility efficiency, the heat from flue gases is extracted at various points in the facility’s process including the following: 1) boiler feedwater is heated in the economizer; 2) water is heated in the convection section and the furnace water wall tubes for production of saturated steam; and 3) saturated steam is superheated in the superheater section of the boiler to make dry “superheated” steam. The dry superheated steam is supplied to the facility’s steam turbine generator, where it is converted into electricity.
The OCRRF employs state-of-the-art air pollution control (APC) technology for municipal waste combustors that meets the Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) standards for existing municipal waste combustors contained in the most recent federal Municipal Waste Combustor Guidelines (40 CFR 60 Subpart Cb). The OCRRF APC equipment includes a selective non-catalytic reduction system (SNCR) for control of Nitrogen Oxide gases (Nox), a spray dryer absorber or “scrubber” for reduction of acid gases, carbon injection for reduction of mercury and dioxins/furans, and a fabric filter or “baghouse” for removal of particulate matter from the flue gases.
The effectiveness of the APC equipment is continuously monitored by the Facility’s Continuous Emissions Monitoring System (CEMS). The CEMS and the Data Acquisition System (DAS) continuously measure and record concentrations of SO2, CO, Nox, CO2, NH3 and opacity for each boiler. Sample probes are located at the economizer outlet before the flue gas enters the scrubber and baghouse and at the induced draft fan inlet (after the baghouse and scrubber) prior to discharge from the stack. Boiler roof and baghouse inlet temperatures are also continuously measured and monitored in order to insure compliance with facility permit limits.
The talk will conclude with an open question and discussion period.
Massive volcanoes exploded in the Caribbean 55 million years ago and triggered dramatic and rapid climate changes ever recorded. Evidence of volcanic eruptions was found by drilling 3,000 feet deep into the sea floor. Cores of ocean floor sediments revealed layers of blue, green, and red volcanic ash surrounded by normal gray sediments. Other studies have shown that the Earth warmed rapidly 55 million years ago, but scientists did not know why. This new research, reported in the November issue of Geology shows that the eruptions occurred just before the warming began. The volcanoes caused the warm top layer of the ocean to flip-flop with the bottom cold layer. That led to releases of methane gas from the sediments into the water. The combination of the methane and the warmer water killed half of the deep ocean sea life. When the methane was subsequently released from the water into the atmosphere, global warming occurred. This research is been conducted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The sediment cores were retrieved using the Ocean Drilling Programs 470-foot long JOIDES resolution, the largest scientific drilling ship in the world. (USA Today, November 6, 1997)
As you may recall, all CNYAPG memberships expire on December 31st. All current members should have received renewal forms with their newsletter. The forms contained the information we currently have on file for you and your membership expiration date. Please make necessary additions or changes to the forms and return them ASAP with your $20 dues payable to CNYAPG.
Those of you that previously paid for multi-year memberships also received a renewal form. Please check the expiration date and make any additions and corrections to your personal information that are necessary. If all information is current, and your dues are paid you need not return the form.
If you have not received a form, or know of a potential new member that needs a membership application form, you may download it from our World Wide Web site at www.dreamscape.com/cnyapg or call me at 437-1142 or fax a request to 437-1282. Please give us suggestions and comments so that we can continue to improve our web site.
Prattsville, along the banks of the Schoharie River, is steeped in Catskill history. It's emblematic of the most progressive aspects of the area's history, and at the same time, it represents many of the mistakes people made as our region developed. Zadock Pratt was the towering, overwhelming personality in the town's development. Even today his influences permeate the village.
Pratt was a founder of the Catskill tanning industry. From 1833 to 1846 his Prattsville tanneries turned out shoe leather for the New York City market. His tanneries, however, were dependent upon the bark of the hemlock tree, and when they were all cut down, the industry closed. We frown upon the wanton destruction of the Catskill hemlocks that characterized the 19th century, but our collective wisdom is based upon a history of trial and error. It was men such as Pratt who provided the errors.
But Pratt is also remembered for progressive attitudes toward urban planning. His Prattsville was a pioneering model in that field. Pratt laid out the streets, built the Greek Revival homes and planted the 1,000 trees that lined the village streets. Pratt founded churches and the town's academy as well. Prattsville today is still truly Pratt's town.
Zadock Pratt was a great man, but I suspect that history would have mostly forgotten him except for his one singular act of vanity. Pratt, the Rameses II of the Schoharie, is remembered for Pratt Rock, his would-be tomb. Pratt Rock consists of a series of stone carvings on a glacially plucked cliff along Rt. 23, just east of town and overlooking the old Pratt farm. The site is now a town park and open to visitors. You can hike the winding path up the steep slope toward the main carvings. If you tire along the way you can sit upon stone seats thoughtfully carved into the mountain. The main level of carvings displays images and symbols of his life. There are carvings of the hemlock tree, a horse which hauled the bark to the tanneries, a strong arm to do the work and other emblems of the great man's life. There is a bust of Pratt himself and a poignant carving of his only son who died in the Civil War. Then there is the Pratt burial chamber itself.
Unlike the pharaoh, Pratt was never buried in the grotto carved out for him. One story is that the chamber was unsuitable for burial as it leaked water when it rained. The chamber is still there, and when I looked it over, I found that there may be some truth to that tale, along with a good geological story about Pratt Rock.
Pratt Rock is carved into sedimentary strata from the old Catskill delta. Deposited nearly 400 million years ago, the strata lie near what was once the coastline of the old Catskill Sea. Rivers flowed across this location and poured their waters into the old ocean.
There is a lot of history here. I had little trouble finding bits and pieces of the old Gilboa forest, and I could picture its foliage along the old stream banks. But the most interesting horizons I found were those at the burial chamber itself. The ceiling of the chamber is made up of inclined strata. This horizon of rock formed on the sloping floor of an old stream channel. The beds slope down to the right, which was once one side of a river, and farther along the outcrop they rise up again on the other shore. When I looked at the chamber ceiling I found a horizon rich in a hash of broken plant remains. This stratum is likely very porous and it just might be that this accounts for the leakage that caused the burial project to be abandoned. The Pharaohs of arid Egypt faced no such problem.
If so, this is one of the many ironies of geology. The great Zadock Pratt is buried in a nearby graveyard, with all the common folk of old Prattsville, because about 370 million years ago some small river made a wrong turn. It's not Pratt buried in Pratt's tomb, but the sands of an ancient river!
(Adapted from an article first published in the Woodstock Times.)
January 8, 1998 ONONDAGA COUNTY RESOURCE RECOVERY FACILITY PROCESS AND TECHNOLOGY, Presented by Amy Prejean, Environmental Compliance Engineer, Ogden Martin Systems of Onondaga, L.P.
March 19-21, 1998 Northeastern GSA Section
Meeting, Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland, Maine.