WHERE AUTOMATION CONNECTS
One man’s waste is another man’s
energy…
By Adrienne Lutovsky,
ProSoft Technology
R
enewable energy is the way
of the future. We already see
hydro power towers on river
beds, wind farms on hillsides,
and solar panels on rooftops.
Now Granger Electric in
Pennsylvania has perfected a
way to produce biogas, or a gas
fuel derived from the decay of
organic matter, by extracting
methane from decomposing
landfill waste and supplying it
to customers as an alternative
“greenhouse” fuel.
Unharnessed, methane is one
of the most potent greenhouse
gases, and is twenty-three
times more potent than carbon
dioxide. Granger’s Lancaster
Landfill Gas Recovery Project
uses wells to both oxygenate
the waste mass—expediting the
decomposition process—and
to trap the raw biogas before it
can escape into the atmosphere.
Separators are then used to
clean the gas by extracting
methane from the remaining gas
substance (composed of carbon
dioxide and trace elements) for
use as a natural gas alternative.
www.prosoft-technology.com
The whole process creates a
symbiotic eco-relationship
between waste and energy by
aiding in the waste degradation
process, by repurposing methane
that would have otherwise been
emitted into the atmosphere, by
providing a less expensive form
of energy to the world, and by
providing an alternative to less
eco-friendly options.
ProSoft Technology RLX-IHW-66
Biogas Distribution
One of Granger’s biggest
customers, a major international
food supplier,, located thirteen
miles away uses the green
energy as a natural gas substitute
to power the boilers that keep its
entire plant operating. Because
the biogas supplied by Granger
is approximately half the cost of
natural gas, the customer is able
to significantly decrease their
power costs without much of an
upfront investment. To utilize
Granger’s biogas product the
customer had to customize their
boiler system, but that required
little more than increasing pipe
sizes and installing an alternate
piping system to be used in
lieu of their natural gas or fuel
supply.
“It’s just another supply link that
has to be put in and retrofitted
into the existing scheme of
things. This cost is recouped
quickly by the savings they
receive from our program,”
commented Joe DiFerdinando,
the Electrical Engineer with
Granger Electric.
Monitoring Consumption
The plant is relatively large and
spread out, with metering panels
located throughout the various
buildings on site to track the
amount of gas used. Inside each
1
WHERE AUTOMATION CONNECTS
of the three panels is a Rockwell
Automation® CompactLogixTM
Ethernet Programmable
Automation Controllers (PAC),
which monitor gas flow variables
to measure consumption at the
facility.
To connect Granger’s main
facility to its customers, a T1
hardwired phone line is used.
The next decision was how to
link up the end of the phone line
at the customer site to the three
PACs.
“Because the plants are so
spread out, we opted to use
wireless at those points to
save on installation. We just
needed to find a product that is
robust and easy to implement,”
commented DiFerdinando.
ProSoft Technology’s water- and
dust-tight 802.11abg Industrial
HotspotTM radios (RLX-IHW-66)
were selected.
“We use CAT-5 cable and Power
over Ethernet (PoE) for both
power supply to the radio and
communication between the
radio and the PAC. PoE allows
us to plug the radios right into
our PACs, plus the casing allows
them to be mounted outside
without weather concerns,” said
DiFerdinando.
The Result: A Fully Automated
System
The T1 connection links the
plant back to a master PAC in
Granger’s main plant, which is
constantly pulling meter data
www.prosoft-technology.com
from the remote customer sites
and feeding the information
up the chain to corporate for
billing. The bandwidth allows
them to see things in real-time,
and is entirely automated so
there is no need to go onsite at
the customer’s facility to collect
meter information.
“The radios are great. They
saved us on installation and
simplified implementation.
I would recommend them
to anyone,” commented
DiFerdinando, “and my ProSoft
sales representative was
incredibly helpful, involved in
the process, and knowledgeable
on the technology and
application. He deserves kudos.”
able to offer our customers can
be enough to help companies
stay in America,” comments Joe
DiFerdinando. “Another one of
our customers, one of the largest
manufacturers of disposable
dishware, was able to save
enough money using our natural
gas substitute to add a third shift
during the week and schedule
weekends into production. The
extra shifts mean extra jobs. It’s
a nice feeling.”
Benefits
Granger is a carbon negative
facility. They convert their own
product onsite into electricity
using an electrical generator
to run their facility, so they are
entirely self-sustained. The
balance of remaining unused
electricity is sold to the local
utilities company, reducing
dependency on fossil fuels.
The food manufacturer can feel
good too. By using repurposed
methane, the highly potent
greenhouse gas was not emitted
into the atmosphere.
But that’s not all. “Landfillgas-to-energy is not just an
environmentally responsible
choice, it makes sense
financially. The savings we are
2