Company News

Novo Gramacho Landfill: Brazil

Steve Wilburn, CEO of FirmGreen, Inc. stands atop the Novo Gramacho landfill, pointing toward the nearby Petrobras facility that will use cleaned biogas from the landfill as fuel.

FirmGreen's equipment is arriving at a site located adjacent the landfill, where it will be assembled to process the landfill's biogas so that it becomes clean biomethane fuel, with an energy content equivalent to natural gas.

Aerial View of the Project

At the top of the photo, you can see Novo Gramacho the landfill depicted in the Wasteland movie. This large landfill is the source of the biogas that will be cleaned using FirmGreen's green technology, currently being installed at Gás Verde's biogas purification plant.

The yellow line represents the route of the pipeline that will transport cleaned gas to a nearby customer in this case, Petrobras.

The Pipeline is Underway

The illustrations at right depict the process of boring beneath road & the waterway along the pipeline route visible in the previous image.

Constructing the pipeline that will deliver cleaned biomethane fuel is all a part of the project, which will help improve air quality at the landfill while making beneficial use of its waste gas to provide power for a nearby business operation.

Construction is Well Underway

The building visible at left in this photo will house an electrical substation at the Gás Verde biogas purification facility.

Other structures (shown in right photo) at the site will soon house other equipment that is part of the biogas processing operation.

Equipment Arrives

FirmGreen's equipment traveled from Ohio to Texas, then by cargo ship to the port of Rio De Janeiro.

After arrival & inspection at Port Rio, the equipment was loaded onto trucks for the last leg of the journey to the Gás Verde facility, located at the Novo Gramacho landfill.

As it arrives, the team in Brazil is ready to install and assemble the biogas purification equipment that will produce biomethane. The cleaned biogas will then be transported by pipeline (slide #2) to help operate the Petrobras plant just "down the hill".

Safely On The Ground

The Gás Verde site in Brazil has been under construction while the equipment was fabricated in the USA, and is ready for equipment installation.

The crew in Brazil is making sure each skid of the biogas purification equipment is offloaded safely and installed in the proper location.  

Equipment Installation

In October, concrete pads stood empty, awaiting unloading of the remaining equipment.

The equipment visible in this photos are compressor coolers — part of the biogas processing plant that will produce pipeline quality natural gas from dirty landfill methane.

Installation Progress

By mid-December, significant progress on construction of the biogas facility is visible.

Most of the equipment has now arrived at the site of the biogas processing plant and is being carefully assembled and installed.

The tall, cylindrical components beyond the workers, to the right, are "purge vessels" that filter impurities out of the biogas.

Substation Progress

The small inset image shows the electrical substation construction progress as of late October 2011.

Visible in the large photo is the same structure as of mid-December. Still under black wraps inside the building are power transformers.

Bird's eye view of site

Early December: visible in the foreground of the photo is the frame for the structure that will house electrical cabling being routed from the substation to biogas processing plant.

Beyond the electrical structure, the biogas purification equipment is being mounted on the concrete pads.

The plant is taking shape!

Late January 2012, progress on the biogas processing plant is visible.

After some inclement weather delays, workers are back on the site installing extensive piping that is all part of the facility's operation.

Plant installation progresses

Late January 2012, a closer view of the workers atop the steel framework, as they continue to install pipes that are part of the biogas processing plant.

Below the steel framework, the biogas purification equipment and containment vessels are visible.

Above & ground level views

In the background of the left photo, taken late January 2012, is the structure and workers seen closeup on the previous slide.

Beyond the containment vessels at mid-photo, another module of the biogas processing equipment has been installed.

In the right side photo, taken below the electrical structure, other workers are doing the many welds to connect piping from biogas containment vessels to the pipeline that will carry cleaned biogas.

Bird's Eye View: February

As construction continues under sunnier skies, the biogas cleaning facility is a hub of activity.

The large trucks seen along the road carry dirt away from the trench being dug for the gas pipeline that will carry cleaned biogas to the customer.

(see slides #2 and 3 for more pipeline info)

Local road hazards...

Some of the local livestock have arrived to check out roadside conditions at the plant, undoubtedly looking for any edible debris.

While they don't seem to have gotten the hardhat memo, they're not blocking the road, so delivery of equipment from the staging area to construction continues without any interference.

Last Shipment Ready to Go

On the ground in Ohio, workers load the last pieces of equipment.

This 4th and final shipment of FirmGreen technology is headed to the port of Jacksonville, Florida and then on to Brazil.

On the Ground in Brazil

Brazilian workers continue to install the biogas processing equipment as it arrives.

The 4th and final shipment will arrive late May, and the plant is expected to be up and running fall 2012.

Check Back Soon!

We will post more photos as the facility progresses and becomes operational, so check back for updates.

Read more about this project
Read the latest project update
View "Starting Point: Ohio" slideshow

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