Asset provides polyethene tanks for Cornwall’s waste-to-energy power plant

Asset International, a manufacturer of products for the water management industry, has provided two advanced polyethene tanks for a showcase waste-to-energy power plant in Cornwall.

The ‘Weholite Modular’ tanks are being used at the new Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre (CERC) near the village of St. Dennis in order to manage complex waterflow through the site while also meeting strict environmental conditions.

Cornwall needs alternative green methods to deal with non-recyclable household waste as an alternative to landfill. The CERC, which is scheduled to open later this year, will turn 240,000 tonnes of household waste a year into enough electricity to power 21,000 local homes.

The Weholite tanks were chosen over competitors using more traditional materials – such as concrete – due to the fact that they are quicker to deliver and install, and exceed other materials in resilience and longevity.

The design challenge

The challenge facing the Asset team was to design tanks that could cope with the high water table on the six-hectare site and withstand main traffic loading on top. Moreover, the rectangular structures – measuring 3.5m x 20m x 3m – required walls of varying thickness in order to handle water at different temperatures during the power generation process.

The weight of the thicker modular tank was 40 tonnes as opposed to the concrete design, which was more than 260 tonnes. In addition, all the inside bespoke components of the tanks were prefabricated in Asset’s factory environment providing a solution ready to be installed.

The engineering team at Asset’s plant in Newport, South Wales, used specialised ‘finite element’ software to simulate conditions on site, which allowed them to design bespoke tanks to meet the client’s specific needs.

Vasilios Samaras, Technical Director at Asset International, explained: “This is an important project for Cornwall that will ensure a more sustainable solution to dealing with its household waste and diminishing landfill capacity.  We were pleased our contribution provided a quality solution and saved the main contractor time.”

Once opened, the CERC will provide a waste treatment facility that will serve the whole of Cornwall and comply with a number of requirements stipulated by the Environment Agency, and will provide a green alternative of dealing with non-recyclable household waste.