The Inland Bio-Energy food waste-to-energy processing facility located in Chino, California has been in operation since 2012. It is the first, and currently one of the largest, dedicated food waste digester projects in the State of California. The digesters at the site are part of the Solids Handling Facilities owned by the Inland Empire Utility Agency. These digesters were initially operated for the treatment of cow manure from the neighboring feedlot. When the manure digestion process was decommissioned, Inland Empire Utility Agency contracted with Inland Bio-Energy to restart and modify the facility for food waste digestion and power production with renewable natural gas. Inland Bio-Energy installed new digester mixing systems using hydraulic pump mixing, a new digestate treatment consisting of a "Centrisys" dewatering centrifuge, and a new dissolved air flotation system for solids removal from the centrate prior to discharge to the Santa Ana River Interceptor. The food waste pre-treatment hammer mill and bio-separator were also installed at the Material Recovery Facility in Fontana, California. The goals of this project are two-fold: 1) to maximize production of renewable biogas and generated power; and 2) to provide a site for local waste haulers to transfer organic wastes and divert them from landfills.
