A $250,000 matching funds grant was awarded to the city of Lebanon to assist with construction of a new waste-to-energy facility  that will reduce landfill usage and provide clean electrical power. The funding comes from the Clean Tennessee Energy Grant program administered by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC).

The biomass gasification plant can convert as much as 64 tons per day of wood waste, sewer sludge and used tires to electricity for use at Lebanon’s waste-water treatment plant on Hartman Drive. The city contracted with PHG Energy of Nashville in February of this year to construct the facility. Completion is expected in mid-2016.

The Lebanon project will deploy what PHG Energy believes is the world’s largest downdraft gasifier. The new design has been vetted through a rigorous testing process for more than two years at PHGE’s research facility. A standard PHGE gasifier can convert up to 12 tons of feedstock per day to fuel gas. The Lebanon model will process up to 64 tons per day without substantially increasing the footprint of the plant.

Once completed, the project will mark the 14th gasifier installation for PHGE. The company’s first municipal installation was commissioned in Covington in 2013. Prior deployments of the thermo chemical process were for industrial brick manufacturing clients in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee to replace natural gas usage by cleanly converting wood waste to what is called producer gas or synthetic gas.