Incineration of plastic and other waste has provided energy recovery opportunities, together with associated challenges on the environmentally benign energy recovery. Most of the wastes have significant energy potential, the utilization of which can save millions of dollars on the national scale. However difficulties exist for their utilization in propulsion and power systems in an environmentally acceptable manner. It is anticipated that the amount of waste generated will continue to grow in the new millennium, along with associated changes in its composition. Incineration (thermal destruction) of wastes to the molecular level allows one to more cleanly convert into usable energy. The challenges provide opportunities for combustion engineers, whose research has expanded significantly in recent years, particularly in areas related to fossil fuels and wastes being used as fuels. The field of combustion is further diversified by the complex nature of most reaction processes. Fuel chemistry, fluid mechanics, convective and radiative heat transfer, gas-phase elementary reactions, turbulence, and particle kinetics and dynamics are relevant processes that often have a direct, and sometimes controlling influence, on the behavior of a particular combustion system. Sensors, diagnostics and miniaturization of the system continue to be of major importance for successful implementation of this new technology.
Challenges and opportunities of power systems from smart homes to super-grids