New energy from waste conversion project uses Atlas Copco compressors

A ground-breaking project to convert domestic and industrial waste into energy is being commissioned at Dargavel, Dumfries in Scotland. Part of the plant’s advanced thermal treatment process employs compressed air supplied from an Atlas Copco Compressors system.

This innovative, advanced thermal treatment facility that uses an entirely new process to treat waste and generate heat and electricity was designed, built and privately funded by Manchester-based environmental, civil and building services organisation, Ascot Environmental Ltd. Operated by ScotGen Ltd the plant uses hazardous and non-hazardous waste to provide an essential resource for power and heat production while managing residual wastes usually destined for burial without capture of any energy content.

Ascot Environmental’s design will offer a commercially viable non-landfill alternative for 60,000 tonnes of waste per annum. The plant is able to process waste from domestic, agricultural and industrial sources and will generate 6.2MW of electrical power per year for the National Grid. It is planned that the heat produced from the gasification process will be used by local industries. The energy from waste plant is capable of dealing with the municipal waste from the population of a town or city of 250,000 people and operates 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.


The compressed air system supplies all of the plant and instrument air with its main application being in the flue gas filtration facility. Here pulses of air are required periodically to clean the filtration bags housed in three units on site. Air is also supplied to the Continuous Emission Monitoring System to ensure that all emissions to atmosphere are cleaned of contaminants to a level that satisfies environmental requirements.

Commenting on Atlas Copco’s role in the plant’s emission control procedures, Lloyd Brotherton, Project Director of Ascot Environmental said, “In view of the material we handle and the nature of the gasification conversion process, it is vital that we maintain a reliable emission monitoring system at all times. We need to comply with the strictest air quality and pollution prevention regulations. The BOS (Batch Oxidation System) technology comfortably conforms to these standards and enables us to meet and surpass even the most stringent requirements. The compressed air equipment plays an essential part in helping us to achieve that objective.”