HDR & Gills Onions - ACEC California & ACEC Engineering Excellence Award Winner

ACEC California awarded HDR Engineering, Inc. its Golden State award for the Gills Onions Advanced Energy Recovery System Project in Oxnard, Calif. The awards banquet took place on Tuesday, January 19, 2010, in conjunction with their Legislative Visit Day, in Sacramento, CA.

HDR went on to receive the American Council of Engineering Companies coveted Grand Conceptor Award for the Gills Onions Advanced Energy during the national Engineering Excellence Awards gala, also known as the Academy Awards of the engineering industry, that took place in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, April 27, 2010.

This is the second year in a row that an engineering design project in California has received the councils top award at the Engineering Excellence Awards. Last years award was bestowed on Cambridge, Mass.-based CDM for its Groundwater Replenishment System designed for the Orange County Water and Sanitation Districts.

HDR was selected by Gills Onions, the largest fresh-cut onion processor in the nation, as the lead engineering firm on this breakthrough $9.5 million facility that converts onion waste to power. In the facility, juice is extracted from onion peels and treated in a high-rate anaerobic reactor to produce methane-rich biogas. The biogas is then treated and used to power two fuel cells that provide electricity for the processing plant. As a result of this project, the owner has achieved increased energy independence, elimination of a waste stream, reduced operational cost, and a smaller carbon footprint. The combination of the energy produced, cost savings generated, and grant funding achieved by the project will result in a full payback in less than six years.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• gills
• acec
• awards

[TheSkeewiz]

Great Job Juan!!