During its annual shutdown for maintenance, Sun Journal Photographer Russ Dillingham was allowed into areas of Mid-Maine Waste Action Corp. in Auburn that are considered too dangerous for access during normal operations.
The plant, constructed in 1992, is not the largest in the state, but is the newest — and it is among the most advanced of its type in the United States.
In recent years, the plant has incinerated up to 73,600 tons of trash in its two furnaces, capturing the heat to propduce the electricity needed to operate the plant’s heavy equipment. Excess electricity is sold to Central Maine Power Co., with the plant making enough electricity to power the yearly needs of 2,000 homes.
Each year, more than 1,500 tons of metal is sorted from the ash that results and is recycled. The ash, free of contaminants, is hauled away to the city’s landfill.
The white “smoke” seen spewing from the plant’s stack isn’t smoke at all. Highly efficient air pollution control equipment neutralizes acid gases and removes mercury and dioxin. Additional filters remove minute particles that might be a byproduct of the burned trash. What comes out is simply steam.
Through 2009, the plant processed more than 1 million tons of solid waste, converting it into domestic renewable energy. This offset the need for 2 million barrels of foreign oil and saved about 1.75 million cubic yards of landfill space, according to MMWAC.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has stated that the electricity generated by the waste-to-energy industry has fewer environmental impacts than almost any other source of electricity.
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- One of the dozens of contractors hired to do maintenance during the annual shutdown walks under the exhaust ducts from the furnaces that travel into the 213 foot tall stack that is actually a shell to protect the two flues.
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- One of the dozens of contractors hired to do maintenance during the annual shutdown makes his way through a maze of walkways in the plant recently.
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- One of the two furnaces or “combustors” can be seen at the middle right of the photo from one of the catwalks in the Auburn plant.
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- An operator uses a joystick to maneuver a “grapple” that transfers the garbage into a chute that feeds the furnace.
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- Air is pumped into the furnaces and steam is produced to create energy that is used to run the plant and the rest sold back to CMP. Dozens of pipes carry the air, steam and other things used in the process that run throughout the building.
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- Three of the monitors where technicians monitor and control the facility.
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- Workers from FASTCO Corporation of Lincoln, Me., prepare the opening where a new set of steam tubes will be replaced during their annual shutdown for routine maintenance recently.
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- The 5 megawatt generator is partially disassembled for routine maintenance.
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