Located at Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park, the Wheelabrator North Broward waste-to-energy facility provides dependable, environmentally safe disposal of municipal waste for Broward County while generating electricity through a technologically advanced process that is clean, environmentally friendly and helps reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Waste Management, Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. is one of the nation's leading owners and operators of commercial waste-to-energy facilities. The company pioneered the use of municipal solid waste for fuel in the generation of electrical power in the United States. Since 1975 its waste-to-energy plants have created nearly 60 billion kWh of energy which has displaced the need for approximately 160 million barrels of oil.
The waste-to-energy facility on the Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park campus generates enough electricity to power nearly 40,000 homes each day. It uses proven technology, super heating wastes to temperatures in excess of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit to convert solid waste into renewable electrical power.
Incoming trucks deliver trash, up to 2,250 tons per day, to an enclosed reception area. Air to feed the combustion process is drawn from the refuse receiving building, sustaining a negative pressure there. This negative pressure prevents odors or dust from escaping into the outside environment.
The waste is then dumped into a concrete receiving pit. Overhead cranes then transfer the trash into one of the boilers' feed hoppers. An inclined, reciprocating, metal grate inside each boiler slowly moves the refuse through the combustion process.
Surrounding the grate systems are large utility-type power boilers designed to recover the thermal energy released during the combustion process. This energy is recovered in the form of high-pressure steam and is converted into electrical energy in the turbine engines.
Emissions from the combustion process are controlled using the most advanced air emissions control equipment available, including acid gas “scrubbers,” fabric filters to control particulate matter, an advanced nitrogen oxide removal system to control nitrogen oxides, and carbon injection to control emissions of mercury, and also dioxins and furans. These control systems thoroughly clean emissions to meet some of the most stringent local, state and federal environmental standards in the world designed to protect public health and the environment. The facility uses reclaimed water from Broward County’s Water and Wastewater Services facility nearby to eliminate the need to use fresh water in the cooling system.
After the waste is completely processed, ferrous metals are separated from the residue. As a result of the combustion and metals recovery processes, the volume waste is reduced by more than 90 percent. The remaining ash is then mixed with mulched yard waste to provide the six-inches of daily cover at Monarch Hill landfill.