Pinellas County Fat/Oil/Grease Receiving and Dewatering Facility (FL)

Project Components:

  • A design-build project meeting the clients time restraints
  • An energy savings project
  • First facility of this nature in Florida
  • Use of a gravity dewatering system for FOG
  • Totally automated system
  • Use of a bio-filter for odor control

HDR designs an expandable FOG facility

The Pinellas County Fat/Oil/Grease Receiving and Dewatering Facility design-build project required the completion of the project design documents from the 60 percent level; permitting assistance, procurement of the major process equipment and subcontractors, construction management services and engineering support for the construction and start-up phases of the project. HDR designed the process facility to handle 30,000 GPD of fat/oil/grease (FOG), expandable to 120,000 GPD, and included on site storage of FOG. The dewatered FOG was intended to be used as a source of biodiesel following further treatment or to be added to the County’s digesters to provide for increased methane production.

Recycling FOG reduces natural gas consumption

The general scope of work on the project included site work, building construction, storage facilities mechanical, electrical, instrumentation installation for the FOG dewatering process. Liquid FOG is collected from grease traps in the local area and then hauled to the project site where it is unloaded for processing throughout the facility. The process mechanically separates the liquids from the FOG, returning the liquid side of the process to the sanitary system while disposing of the FOG in trucking containers for transport to digesters at the clients WWTP. The FOG when introduced into the digesters increased the methane production which in turn reduced the natural gas consumption in their pelletizing facility.

The major challenge of this project was to make sure it was completed in an extremely compressed time frame. Timely permitting was a must to meet the client’s deadline.