Tennessee-based Aries Clean Energy has secured all approvals needed to build a biosolids-only gasification facility, with a processing capacity of 400 tonnes, in New Jersey, US.

Aries facility to be located in Linden Roselle Sewerage Authority (LRSA) complex

To be located on in a re-purposed building within the Linden Roselle Sewerage Authority (LRSA) complex, about 32km from Manhattan (New York City), the Aries Linden Biosolids Gasification Facility will use fluidised bed gasification system that was designed specifically to process biosolids.

The system is claimed to reduce the volume of biosolids from 400 tonnes per day to 22 tonnes of biochar and it will be used as a substitute for fly ash in concrete.

The renewable energy generated from the system will then be recovered and used within the system, avoiding the use of fossil fuels during normal operations.

Aries Clean Energy CEO Gregory Bafalis said: “With these approvals, this marks the first large-scale fluidized bed gasification system to process biosolids in the world.  Aries patented gasification system eliminates the need for environmentally harmful landfilling or incineration of biosolids, while producing beneficial renewable energy and biochar.

“We believe this truly is a beneficial and disruptive technology that will revolutionize the wastewater treatment industry and establish itself as the best available control technology for biosolids disposal.”

Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said: “We are excited to bring this green gasification technology to Linden. It’s more than the addition of jobs to our City, it’s taking a step toward a healthier New Jersey, a healthier Earth. This is not only a first for Linden, but it will be the largest facility of its type in the world.”

The Linden Roselle Sewerage Authority was created in 1948 and services the City of Linden and the Borough of Roselle. It was established to contract and operate wastewater treatment and interceptor facilities to collect, treat and dispose of sewage generated by the municipalities.

Last October, Aries’ waste-to-energy gasification plant in Lebanon, Tennessee reached a milestone by maintaining 94% uptime rate in the last 100 consecutive days and more than 460,000 kWh of green electricity was generated during 2,259 operating hours.

The city selected Aries to offer a solution for the disposal of the city’s biosolids and generate renewable energy from both biosolids and wood waste.