What The Bioenergy Project Means To Me
June 3, 2014 2:16 pm Leave your thoughts
It’s difficult to believe that I’ve been working at Millar Western for a month now. With everything that I’ve been up to, the time has passed so quickly. Some fun things that I’ve been working on include lab testing and recording of particulate matter and chemicals in the plant effluent, charting values, field work for ground water quality sampling and testing, and research and spreadsheets in the office. I am so lucky to be experiencing such a well-rounded internship. Encompassing three fields of work into my job is an exceptional opportunity, and I’m having a blast!
A lot of my work is part of the process revolving around Millar Western’s multi-million dollar bioenergy project (The BEP). This project is a huge part of what drew me to work for this company in the first place. A lot of my work in school has been dedicated to understanding the processes and technologies involved in sustainable energy and the engineering behind projects like the BEP. To study biomass utilization, feedstocks, conversion platforms, and bioenergy outputs of multiple forms is one thing, but to be in working with a project that applies all that knowledge is an amazing opportunity for me. The BEP is currently under development at Millar Western, a bleached chemo-thermo-mechanical pulp mill, where we are developing an anaerobic hybrid digestive system to integrate into the current aerobic treatment system to treat the pulp effluent and convert it to a biogas, which will then fuel an on-site energy plant to produce renewable, self-generated energy for the mill.
The BEP is a huge step for Millar Western. It is a process of dedication, passion, and commitment to strive to overcome the inevitable obstacles that stand in the way of developing a sound, sustainable bioenergy system. When the project is up and running, Millar will be producing a great deal of their own energy for consumption, cutting their required energy from regular sources by a significant amount. This means less unsustainable energy is being consumed and less carbon emissions are expelled. This is green thinking, or rather, smart thinking. This is the difference I want to be making. This is the shift in development and the change that I want to be a part of, and I’m absolutely ecstatic that I get to be a part of it this summer.
Groundwater sampling with the environmental crew.