Manteca Wastewater Quality Control Facility (WQCF)

Waste to Fuel Program

Font Size: + -

Feedback Print

WEF Project Excellence Award WQCF Digester improvements Project Phase I Compressed Biogas Fueling Facilities Project Phase II The City of Manteca is taking steps to minimize costs by creating fuel for its Solid Waste Fleet.

The City will take specific types of garbage and turn it into Vehicle Fuel which will run the City garbage trucks. The City has 18 CNG Garbage trucks to date, with the goal of converting most of the Solid Waste Fleet to CNG by 2023. This will meet the California Air Resources Board (CARB) requirements for emissions and save an estimated $500,000 to a million annually in fuel costs.

January 1, 2023 all 2010 and older vehicles must be retrofitted or replaced with alternative fuel or meet current emission standards to be in compliance with regulations set by San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) and CARB.

The City of Manteca’s goal is to divert recoverable non-cellulosic organic waste produced in the City from landfill disposal towards biologically generated, carbon negative transportation fuel. To attain that goal, the City has completed construction of Phase I of this program and is under construction on Phase II of this program. The program includes facilities to capture wastewater solids; commercially generated food waste; and fats, oils and grease (FOG) as part of their Waste-to-Fuel Program.

The captured materials will be cleaned and processed with minimal organic loss for introduction into several continuously stirred anaerobic digesters (AD) at the City of Manteca WQCF. Biogas generated at the WQCF is currently flared to atmosphere. The AD system will produce a renewable biogas consisting of about 60%-65% CH4, 35% CO2, and small amounts of H2O, H2S, longer chain aliphatics, and Siloxanes. Many of these components are detrimental to the use of Biogas directly as a vehicle fuel. The new gas treatment processes installed in phase I and II will remove most of the CO2, H2O, H2S, and Siloxanes to produce SAE J1616 transportation-quality renewable compressed natural gas (R-CNG) with a concentration in excess of 95% methane. The R-CNG will fuel the City’s growing fleet of compressed natural gas vehicles and will be open to the public. The system is designed to produce up to 500 Diesel Gallon Equivalents (DGE)/day (182,500 DGE/year), and is anticipated to initially generate in excess of 140,000 DGE/year. The planned facilities were designed with consideration for future increases in production capacity, potentially doubling in the near future.

The Biogas produced by the proposed facilities will be utilized to offset current use of diesel and gasoline in City garbage trucks and vehicles. The City has already begun purchasing new CNG vehicles for the garbage fleet as part of the Program. Utilizing the City’s resources in this manner allows for a more economically attractive project with greater environmental benefits than just producing electricity from the biogas.

Capital Improvements Timeline

Awards

Benefits

Key Project Components

Digester system improvements for biogas production and biosolids treatment.
FOG / Food Receiving Projects - Receiving non municipal waste for co-digestion, concurrent with wastewater.
Fuel - RCNG fuel treatment and dispensing facility under project Compressed Biogas Fueling Facility.
Food Waste Separation Project - Separates Food Waste from Municipal Solid Waste and processes into a slurry, co-digesting.
RIN/LCSF Credits - D5/D3 pathway modeling, credit brokering and QAP monitoring.

Funding

The Basic Process

Project Manager
Bret Swain, PE, MS, MBA
(209) 456-8400
bswain@ci.manteca.ca.us

Sewer

Drains from homes and businesses to the Water Quality Control Facility (WQCF)

Fats, Oils and Grease

Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) is a leading cause of sewer backups. FOG occurs when cooking fats are poured down the drain and coat the inside of the pipes, eventually forming a blockage. They accumulate in sewer systems causing clogs and backups. Restaurants have special grease traps to prevent FOG entering the sewer system which must be cleaned periodically.

Waste to Fuel Facility

Located at 2450 W Yosemite Ave. Manteca, Ca. 95337

Biogas Treatment

Biogas is produced using well-established technology in a process involving several stages: The actual biogas production takes place through anaerobic digestion in large tanks for about three weeks. In the final stage, the gas is purified (upgraded) by removing impurities and carbon dioxide.

CNG Fuel

Compressed natural gas (CNG) (mostly methane stored at high pressure) is a fuel which can be used in place of gasoline, diesel fuel and propane/LPG. CNG combustion produces fewer undesirable emissions than the aforementioned fuels. In comparison to other fuels, natural gas poses less of a threat in the event of a spill, because it is lighter than air and disperses quickly when released. Biomethane, which is cleaned-up biogas from anaerobic digestion or landfills, can be used.

Collection Trucks

A class of Heavy Duty Vehicle used to collect municipal solid waste. The City of Manteca has other types of HD CNG Vehicles including vacter and vac-con trucks.