Westinghouse Waste-to-Energy Facility

Fluor was selected by Westinghouse to provide construction management services and to self-perform the majority of construction for this 510-ton-per-day, mass-burn, solid waste-to-energy facility near Panama City, Florida.

The project cost was $38.5 million, including start-up, and was completed by Fluor in 18 months.

Client's Challenge

The facility, owned by the government of Bay County, Florida, has the capacity to generate 12,000 kilowatts of power from the combustion of refuse. The plant was designed by Sanders and Thomas and was originally operated by Westinghouse.

Fluor's Solution

The project consists of two trains of waste handling and weighing systems, rotary combustors and boilers, residual fly ash removal systems, air-pollution control devices and stacks. Each train is capable of incinerating 255 tons daily of as-received municipal solid waste and wood refuse. A single steam turbine-generator set is used.

A truck scale, electrical substation and mechanical-draft cooling tower were part of the scope of work for the facility. The project's manpower was over 200 craft workers at peak with the construction performed on an open-shop basis.

Conclusion

Through incineration, the Bay County facility reduces the volume of refuse it receives by about 90 percent. Ash and unburnables left from the process are in an inert state acceptable for burial in landfills. Electricity generated by the incineration process is purchased by Florida Power Corporation.