Advanced Aeration Technologies
Inland Empire Regional Composting Facility (IERCF)
Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA / Capacity: 150,000 tons per year / Project Completed: 2007
The Inland Empire Regional Composting Facility (IERCF) was constructed under a Joint Powers Authority agreement between the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and the LA County Sanitation Districts to manufacture exceptional quality compost that is good: for soil, plants, the environment, and public health. The in-vessel, 150,000 ton per year co-composting facility processes a blend of green waste, dairy manure, and biosolids. Furthermore, this massive facility had the goal of being “completely nuisance free” – meaning odor control was a key priority.
The IERCF biofilter represents one of the most notable and ambitious BacTee projects.
Following on the heels of the LACSD’s extensive evaluation and testing of a myriad of biofilter technologies, the agencies made it clear to all design engineers working on the project that only the BacTee aeration floor system would be used to distribute air to the organic media (wood chips & compost) biofilter. At 800,000 cfm (1,360,000 m3/hr), this was to be one of the largest biofiltration odor control systems in the U.S. - if not the world - and odor control was to be given the highest priority due to the risk. It was clearly understood by practitioners in the art of biofiltration, and became apparent to LACSD researchers, that optimum biofilter performance depends greatly on uniformity of air distribution.