Rein and Associates

Our company has worked for clients throughout the United States and Central America. Locally, we work for many municipalities and industrial organizations. Some of our current projects are listed below.

Management and Operating Assistance:

We have contracts with several clients to provide technical and management assistance for wastewater treatment plant operations. Included with these services are: licensed wastewater operators and laboratory technicians, the development of computer systems for plant operation, biosolids land application management, laboratory QA/QC manuals, and pretreatment coordination with industrial users.

We are implementing advanced asset management for a municipal wastewater/water facility and an industrial wastewater facility. We are using asset management software named, "TEAMS". This software was developed by the Maryland Center for Environmental Training (MCET) through a grant from EPA. This software incorporates all elements of advanced asset management. See our publications page for more information on the software.

Ethanol Stillage Digestion Research:

Since 2007, Rein & Associates has been investigating the potential for extracting additional energy from stillage produced at corn based ethanol production facilities. It was first demonstrated, on a bench scale, that "thick stillage" was an ideal feedstock for biologically producing methane gas (a green replacement for natural gas).

Based on the early bench scale success, funding for additional full scale and pilot scale work was sought and provided by the Agricultural Utilization and Research Institute (AURI), the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Otter Tail Power and the City of Fergus Falls.
Phase I was a full scale demonstration conducted at the Fergus Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant using thick stillage as an additional bio-feed stock for the City's anaerobic digesters. This project successfully demonstrated that thick stillage could be used to produce sufficient additional biogas to completely satisfy the natural gas demand at the wastewater treatment plant.

Phase II has been a pilot scale demonstration conducted at the Fergus Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant; however, this time "thin stillage" was the bio-feed stock and the digestion was conducted in a 10,000 gallon pilot plant. This phase of the project demonstrated that sufficient biogas could be produced from thin stillage to allow for the production of ethanol without the use of fossil fuels. It also demonstrated the potential for producing a renewable slow release fertilizer, struvite.

Phase III of the project has also been conducted at the Fergus Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant. Its purpose has been to demonstrate the feasibility of producing struvite, along with biogas, at an ethanol production facility. A skid mounted struvite production pilot plant was used for this demonstration. Preliminary analysis of the results indicates that the production of struvite, along with biogas, would be feasible. A Phase III report is being prepared that will present the findings and conclusions for this phase of the project.

Dehydrating Plant:

Several years ago we completed constuction of a new anaerobic treatment system for a potato and carrot dehydrating facility in Northern Minnesota. This low rate system is removing 85% of the organic load and producing 200 CFM of methane per day. We continue to provide operating assistance at this facility.

Biological Phosphorus Removal:

Several years ago, we designed a biological phosphorus upgrade to the Fergus Falls wastewater treatment plant. The primary purpose for the upgrade was to reduce chemical costs. However, an added benefit has been achieved - sludge production has been reduced by over 30%! This upgrade has resulted in substantial savings in operating costs. The plant consistantly meets a phosphorus discharge limit of 1 mg/L without the addition of any chemical.

In 2005, we completed a biological phosphorus (bio-p) removal pilot study for the city of Pelican Rapids. This study determined that their current plant configuration consisting of RBCs and a trickling filter was not capable of achieving bio-p; however, the pilot plant did indicate that by using a typical anaerobic-aerobic activated sludge configuration, bio-p removal was possible. Currenty, we are working with Interstate Engineering to determine the best solution for the city of Pelican Rapids.

Environmental Permitting:

We have recently been retained by a private industry to handle all environmental compliance requirements. Included are the following: air emission inventory reports, air permits, stormwater permits, and hazardous waste generator permits.