Company Profile

Covanta Energy is an internationally recognized owner and operator of Energy-from-Waste and power generation projects. Its Energy-from-Waste facilities convert municipal solid waste into renewable energy for communities around the world, with most in the United States.

Business Situation

Covanta focuses on being a green company, minimizing its waste production in nearly every process it carries out. Covanta utilizes Reverse Osmosis for part of its water treatment. The procedure generates water waste that has the potential to be employed in other aspects of the overall process. To save energy, Covanta determined ways to use this water waste in other aspects of plant operations. Being able to capture, treat and reuse this water required new piping, conversion of existing tanks and equipment, and a close study of how to control and manage the new process.

Technical Situation

Working with its water treatment specialist, Covanta had a good plan for how to accomplish the project. The design was based on how it wanted the process to work, but did not include piping layouts, ease of access for maintenance and operation, or installation and construction considerations. The project was also under tight budget restrictions in order to achieve payback, so no experimentation was in the cards. It had to be done correctly and work the first time.

Trades Used: Pipefitters, Pipe Welders, Fabricators, General Labor.

Solution

Following the normal bid process, Covanta and Maddox sat down to discuss how to bring the project in under budget. By collaborating on the design of the manifold and valve operation sequences, we were able to come up with a piping layout that would not be confusing to operators and would be easy to install. By moving valve and tie-in locations, we were able to cut down on installation costs. By simplifying the elevated work areas, the team was able to nearly eliminate scaffold use. By working together on materials and valve specifications, we were able to get competitive pricing while meeting all the performance specifications that the project needed to generate.

Benefits

Sometimes the traditional bid process doesn’t get you where you need to go. By working as partners and putting everything out in the open, including internal costs and needs, our team came up with a much lower-cost project for the customer while adding additional functions and features. By removing the barriers that are normally built into a typical low bid/change order system, Covanta and Maddox were able to have a free flow of dialogue and cooperation that generated no surprises, hiccups or cost overruns.