March 11, 2015
BY ICM Inc.
ICM Inc. is pleased to announce a signed contract with JUM Global LLC, a global waste solution developer contracted with the City of San José, California, for a gasification demonstration unit using ICM’s proprietary technology.
This gasification demonstration unit will be operated at the San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility, which will process up to 10 short tons per day of urban waste biomass from the San José solid waste collection program, such as urban woody biomass, storm debris, yard waste, tree trimmings, as well as construction and demolition materials, blended with a small portion of biosolids from the wastewater facility. The gasification unit will help the region by demonstrating a process, which can be utilized in both the disposition and the application of these materials to produce a high quality syngas (i.e., producer gas), which can ultimately and efficiently be used to produce transportation fuels.
Jon Orr, capital sales manager at IMC said, “This demonstration project, utilizing ICM’s gasification technologies, will help advance the path to renewable transportation fuels using waste biomass at a scale that makes economic sense.”
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San José, a recipient of a California Energy Commission match funding grant under the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, contracted with JUM Global to partner with ICM for this project scheduled for completion by the end of April. “While gasification has been around for a long time, there is renewed interest in this process as a way to convert different types of waste to produce renewable energy,” said Kerrie Romanow, director of San José Environmental Services Department. “This demonstration project will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on others for transportation fuel.”
Dave McCarthy, JUM Global COO said, “We are very excited to be working with the gasification team at ICM as our technology partner for this San Jose project. Their technology and ability to swiftly react to changing project dynamics is second to none. Together with ICM and the City of San Jose, we feel we have the best team possible for this project.”
Chris Mitchell, president of ICM, Inc. said, “We’re pleased that our technology was chosen by JUM Global and San José for this project. We believe that our gasification solution is a significant next step in delivering valuable technology options to the renewable energy sector.”
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In 2009, ICM built and began operating a commercial-scale demonstration gasifier with the capacity to convert 150 tons of biomass per day. Over the next four years, ICM successfully tested more than 16 feedstock types, processed over 8,400 tons of material, and logged more than 3,200 hours of operating time. Examples of the feedstocks tested include: refuse-derived fuel (RDF) generated from municipal solid waste, tire-derived fuel mixed with RDF, wood chips, pine bark, wheat straw, corn stover, chicken litter, switchgrass, automobile shredded residue mixed with RDF, and other biomass/energy crops.