Field Day: Exploring Co-digestion & Combined Heat and Power Options for Wastewater Systems

Wastewater treatment plants in Illinois have a variety of opportunities to implement Co-digestion of food waste and other organic waste and use the produced biogas in Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units at their facilities. Despite the economic benefits, many plants pass on CHP or Co-digestion opportunities. This field day will highlight the considerations and challenges that the Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District has overcome to operate a successful Co-digestion CHP system. We’ll provide an overview of the key components of net zero energy wastewater facilities, the key components of CHP and anaerobic digestion systems at wastewater plants and highlight funding and technical assistance to investigate opportunities at your plants. We will also tour the Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District and uncover their secrets to success.

Our field day speakers will include:

• Mike Holland, District Engineer and Assistant District Manager at the Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District
• Shawn Maurer, Senior Energy Engineer at the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC)
• Marcello Pibiri, Senior Research Engineer, Technical Education and Analysis for Community Hauling and Anaerobic Digesters (TEACH AD) Program at UIC-ERC
• Graeme Miller, Assistant Director of the US DOE Midwest CHP Technical Assistance Program

This event will be held in-person at the Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District in DeKalb, Illinois. Breakfast will be provided by the TEACH AD Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. We will be applying for 4 CEU hours for participating operators, which will be shared after the field day has been completed.

This program is hosted by the Illinois EPA Office of Energy Public Water Infrastructure Program and the Technical Education and Analysis for Community Hauling and Anaerobic Digesters (TEACH AD) Program at University of Illinois Chicago Energy Resources Center (UIC-ERC).