HYPOWERS: Hydrothermal Processing of Wastewater Solids Award Number: DE-EE0007969 CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.6 Bioenergy Technologies Office Date: 5/2/2017 Location(s): VA Office(s): Golden Field Office
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance
May 9, 2017
Estimated Read Time min
HYPOWERS: Hydrothermal Processing of Wastewater Solids
Award Number: DE-EE0007969
CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.6
Bioenergy Technologies Office
Date: 5/2/2017
Location(s): VA
Office(s): Golden Field Office
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to provide federal funding to Water Environment and Reuse Foundation (WE&RF) to validate processes that convert wastewater solids into biofuels, and develop a detailed design and planning package for an integrated pilot scale hydrothermal processing system. This NEPA determination is for Phase 1 including both Budget Periods 1 and 2. If the recipient is selected to move forward into Phase 2, further NEPA review will be necessary once Phase 2 tasks are defined.
Activities associated with Phase 1 of the proposed project include design, data analysis, business planning, preliminary engineering, and research and development. Desktop design, analysis, and planning work would occur at existing offices of various subrecipients belonging to the Hydrothermal Processing of Wastewater Solids (HYPOWER) consortium led by WE&RF. Validation experiments involving bench scale conversion of wastewater sludge to biocrude oil and methane gas would be undertaken within the Bioprocess Science and Engineering Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, WA. Wastewater solids would be sourced from an existing wastewater treatment plant in the Central Contra Costa County Sanitary District in Martinez, CA. Small quantities of biocrude produced during Phase 1 of the proposed project would be tested by Tesoro Corporation, an established refiner of crude oil and other feedstocks into transportation fuels. The location has not yet been specified; however, the project would utilize one of Tesoro’s existing purpose-built refineries in California. Biocrude oil produced by the project would represent only a fraction of one percent of the volume in the refinery and would consequently be treated in an on-site laboratory. Additionally, bench scale studies of liquid waste processing would take place in a dedicated research laboratory at California Polytechnic State University (CPSU) in San Luis Obispo, CA.