Airport Services Solutions

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

EQ was awarded a contract with the County of Wayne granting EQ the exclusive right to accumulate and remove the spent deicing fluid from the Airport premises and store, recycle and otherwise manage the spent deicing fluid at a location off premises from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. The contract was for three deicing seasons, and commenced December 10, 1997 (concluded April 15, 2000). Following a public bidding process, EQ was awarded a new three (3) year contract in 2000, and again in 2003.

The project matured since its inception in 1997. In the first year of the contract, all glycol collection was accomplished via a glycol collection vehicle (GRV). A significant percentage of the deicing was accomplished at a wide spot in the Hotel Taxiway and a GRV was the primary mechanism for spent ADF collection. The GRV was also operated around the gate areas as conditions dictated. EQ spotted 1-2 tankers at DTW depending on conditions and offloaded the GRV directly into these tankers. The fluid was transported to EQAS Glycol Processing Unit at EQ Resource Recovery (EQRR) for reclamation.

The Airport and Northwest Airlines brought two centralized deicing pads, 21C and 3C, online during the 1998/1999 deicing season. Following this first season, the Airport addressed several operational issues related with these pads to enhance their collection performance. A third deicing pad was brought online for the 1999/2000 deicing season (also resulted in pad designation changes). During this deicing season, more than 300,000 gallons of undiluted propylene glycol were removed from the Airport. This achievement represented a culmination of all three (3) centralized deicing pads being online and operating properly, a dedicated and experienced Airport Environmental Administrator, an open line of communication between EQ, the Airport and the Airport's tenants and a focused EQ staff. During the 2000/2001 deicing season approximately 575,000 gallons of undiluted propylene glycol were removed from the Airport. The 2002-2003 season surpassed those totals in during the month of February 2003.

During the deicing season, EQ maintains a full-time project manager and two full-time operator/technicians. Additionally, temporary operators are contracted to assist with weekend operations and during major storm events. Local transportation companies are also contracted to provide fluid movement to EQ's off-site interim storage tank or directly to EQAS Glycol Processing Unit at EQRR.

All spent deicing fluids collected from DTW are ultimately transported to the Glycol Processing Unit at EQRR where they are pretreated and then processed through a high efficiency evaporator to separate water from glycol (to approximately 60-70% glycol concentration). The concentrated glycol is then further processed through a vacuum distillation column to produce a 99+% pure product. This recycled product is sold to established outlet markets for reuse.

The current contract includes one GRV and deicing pad management of DTW's reliever airport, Willow Run (YIP) and GRV services at DTW.

Comprehensive Environmental Management Services for the Aviation Industry

Solutions: