In a climate like Western New York’s, where winters can be harsh, a system to deice planes is essential to travel and commerce. Used deicing solution is an environmental hazard, and must be properly managed. As a subconsultant to prime design contractor WSP USA, Encorus Group assisted in a project to expand the capacity for the management of spent deicing fluid (glycol) and glycol-contaminated stormwater runoff at the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.
The airport’s glycol treatment system utilizes artificial wetlands containing specialized bacteria to breakdown the glycol in the contaminated stormwater runoff prior to being discharged. The system requires careful monitoring and control of stormwater flows to maintain operations year-round.
The project’s objective was achieved by expanding the available capacity of the storage and treatment systems at the airport, and upgrading the monitoring systems to provide the airport operators better operational oversight of the system.
Encorus was responsible for the design of the monitoring system upgrades. This work included reviewing the existing control system design, designing new network pathways between control points, and specifying new programmable logic controllers (PLCs), HMI displays, control panels, field instrumentation connections, and a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for the facility’s stormwater system. Encorus Group’s responsibilities on the project included control system design, equipment selection, and preparation of contract specifications and drawings.
The project’s scope also included baseline review and analysis of the existing treatment and storage systems; exploration of potential improvements to optimize the existing treatment system; power consumption and efficiency evaluation of the existing systems; review of potential expansion of the treatment system’s capacity and exploration of upgrades to the mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation systems of the existing systems; building expansion of the existing wetland treatment building to facilitate potential system upgrades; stormwater storage expansion and integration upgrades; and study the feasibility of consolidating the stormwater outfalls on the property.
