Biomass-fired boiler adds to University of Missouri’s sustainable footprint.
The University of Missouri – Columbia and its construction team are celebrating the completion of a milestone, two-year project aimed at significantly reducing the campus’ carbon footprint while propelling the university forward in its sustainability goals.
The design and construction team, which includes Overland Park, Kan.-based design engineer Sega Inc., and the construction manager at-risk - a joint venture between St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Co., and Chesterfield, Mo.-based CB&E Constructors - completed construction in December on a $75 million biomass boiler project at the campus power plant.
The 100% biomass-fired Babcock & Wilcox boiler, expected to be in service early this year, will be annually fueled with more than 100,000 tons of regionally supplied and sustainably sourced biomass. This new biomass boiler, along with the co-firing of biomass in the plant’s stoker boilers, is expected to reduce the university’s use of coal by more than 25%.
“The power plant upgrade was a very complex and highly technical project that presented many challenges to the team,” McCarthy Project Manager Mark Smith says. “The work was executed within a fully operational, combined heat and power facility that provides continuous utility services to the campus. Ongoing, uninterrupted plant operations came second only to safety on the project.”
Sega Project Engineer Adam Ross adds: “It was definitely a challenging, yet rewarding project. The coordination efforts by all parties were essential to the success of the project, and everyone worked well together to address the challenges encountered during design and construction.”
MU’s combined heat and power plant supplies electricity, heating and cooling for more than 15 million gross sq. ft. of buildings, including three hospitals, a research reactor, several research facilities and laboratories, academic and administrative buildings, residential halls and athletic facilities. The plant, a 2010 Energy Star combined heat and power plant award recipient, is nearly twice as efficient as a conventional power plant because it simultaneously produces the thermal energy (steam for heating and cooling) and electricity for the campus.