- Gas to Energy

The Puente Hills Landfill Gas-To-Energy Facility generates 50 Megawatts of electricity.

The Sanitation Districts installed an extensive network of landfill gas collection systems. These systems are largely comprised of large diameter, perforated pipe buried within the landfill. The majority of the collected landfill gas is utilized for electrical power generation. The collection system was originally created to prevent the gas from migrating away from the landfill.

Puente Hills gas-to-electricity plant, Puente Hills CA

The Puente Hills Gas-to-Energy facility uses a conventional Rankine Cycle Steam Power Plant using landfill gas as fuel to generate electricity. Landfill gas is fired in the plant’s boilers producing superheated steam. The superheated steam is used to drive the steam turbine/generator to generate electric power. The plant produces approximately 46 MW net of electric power, which is sold to the local utility company, Southern California Edison (SCE).

The landfill gas is combusted in the boilers at near atmospheric pressure using a controlled amount of makeup air. The forced draft fans are regulated by oxygen stack gas sensors. The plant emission rates are well below those required by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. This is the world’s largest gas-to-energy facility and has been in full commercial operation since January 1987 and has remained on-line 95 percent of the time.

Excerpts from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Aerial view of the Puente Hills Landfill Puente Hills Landfill is the largest landfill in the United States.