Morris Forman WQTC Dryer Replacement (Louisville, KY)

Background

The Morris Forman WQTC originally had four drum dryer trains (installed in the early 2000s) to process all of the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) biosolids. Progressively, components of each dryer train began to permanently fail, and by mid-2019 only one dryer train was functional yet failing, with solids capacity reduced to problematic levels for plant compliance.

MSD requested that Hazen perform an evaluation of options for dryer train rehabilitation and/or replacement to restore processing capacity until a larger biosolids processing solution (also planned/developed with assistance from Hazen) could be implemented.

Hazen worked closely with MSD operations and maintenance staff to evaluate the condition of each dryer component to determine whether components could be rehabilitated and reused for constructing two functional dryer trains with long-term operational reliability. It was recommended that MSD replace all components for two dryer trains.

Hazen provided detailed design and construction oversight for rapid, emergency installation of the two new 19,000 pounds-per-hour evaporation rated dryer trains. The new dryer trains include replacement of furnaces, drums, pellet separation, classification, conveyance and recycle, wet cake mixing and conveyance, exhaust gas condensing, scrubbing, and recycle, regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTOs), and rehabilitation of the existing pellet silos.

Project Outcomes and Benefits

• Hazen’s preparation of detailed specifications and an RFP for dryer systems and 13.8kV medium voltage main switchgear for competitive proposals saved MSD approximately $3 million in equipment costs
• Development of a comprehensive 3D Revit model for the dryer equipment installation
• Design upgrades to the dryer and pelletizing system with the latest technology advancements
• Startup occurred just 18 months after the beginning of the project