Energy-Positive Operations – City of Los Angeles Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant

The City of Los Angeles’s Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant’s Bio-Energy Facility (HBEF) was commissioned in early 2017 as part of the Digester Gas Utilization Project (DGUP), a design- build-operate contract with the ultimate objective of making full beneficial use of the HWRP’s generated digester gas (biogas); a by-product of the waste water treatment process. Implementation of the project provides a renewable source of energy for the HWRP, amounting up to 27 megawatts (MW) (nominal) of power generation, 32,000 kilograms of steam per hour for the Plant’s solids digestion process, and the capability of providing a self-sufficient power source during events in which power from the Grid is not available. In addition to the renewable energy produced by the HBEF, another objective of the project was to re-use existing infrastructure to the fullest extent possible. This objective not only reduced costs associated with the full-scale demolition of de-commissioned areas within the HWRP, but also provided an ideal opportunity to safely contain, remove and dispose of hazardous materials that had been previously contained on-site for an extended period of time.This paper serves to share the details of the project’s scope, objectives and inherent challenges therein, as answered by the technological & engineering solutions employed by the project team, which led to a successful commissioning and operations of a combined-cycle digester gas cogeneration facility of great magnitude, unique design approach and unique performance requirements. Sharing the DGUP success story serves to benefit other agencies seeking to implement new, or improve upon existing energy recovery technologies within project criterion and constraints translatable to the City’s experiences on this project.