Waste-to-energy: Coupling Waste Treatment to Highly Efficient CHP

Author(s):  
J. De Greef ◽  
B. Verbinnen ◽  
J. Van Caneghem

Abstract Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) has become the most widespread Best Available Technology (BAT) to treat residual waste streams in a reliable and safe way. As such, MSWI has contributed to achieve the landfill diversion targets in many EU member states. Modern waste incinerators, also referred to as Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plants, have furthermore evolved to producers of electricity, heat and steam for energy-consuming industries, agriculture and residences. However, due to the specific composition and properties of MSW and similar waste, and due to the historical development of MSWI, the exploitation of WtE plants as combined heat and power (CHP) plants is not straightforward. The aims of this paper are to develop a better understanding of these limitations, to point out possibilities for increasing the level of energy recovery and utilization in WtE plants, and to document this approach with data and experiences from selected WtE plants currently integrated in CHP schemes. Finally, some design and operational challenges for waste-fired CHP plants are further elaborated from a WtE plant supplier’s perspective.

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qahtan Thabit ◽  
Abdallah Nassour ◽  
Michael Nelles

Population growth, urbanization, and changes in lifestyle have led to an increase in waste generation quantities. The waste management system in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is still considered an adolescent system, while developed countries have made great progress in this field, including regulation, financing, administration, separation at source, recycling, and converting waste to energy. At the same time, in the MENA region, the best performance of the recycling process is around 7–10% of total waste. Nowadays, many developed countries like Germany are shifting from waste management to material flow systems, which represent the core of a circular economy. Also, it should be stated here that all countries that have a robust and integrated waste management system include waste-to-energy (W-to-E) incineration plants in their solutions for dealing with residual waste, which is still generated after passing through the entire treatment cycle (hierarchy). Therefore, this paper illustrates the potentiality of embedding waste incineration plants in the MENA region, especially in large cities, and addressing the economic and financial issues for the municipalities. Cities in these countries would like to build and operate waste treatment plants; however, municipalities do not have the sustainable investment and operating costs. The solution is to maximize the income from the output, such as energy, recycling materials, etc. In addition, the MENA region is facing another dilemma, which is water scarcity due to climate change, increasing evaporation, and reduction of precipitation. This research illustrates a simulated model for a waste incineration plant in the MENA region. The EBSILON 13.2 software package was used to achieve this process. Furthermore, the simulated plant applies the concept of waste-to-energy-to-water, so that not only is waste converted to energy but, by efficient usage of multi-stage flash (MSF) technology, this system is able to generate 23 MWe of electric power and 8500 m3/day of potable water. A cost analysis was also implemented to calculate the cost of thermal treatment of each ton of municipal solid waste (MSW) during the life span of the plant. It was found that the average cost of treatment over 30 years would be around US$39/ton.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110115
Author(s):  
Wesley N Oehmig ◽  
Justin Roessler ◽  
Abdul Mulla Saleh ◽  
Kyle A Clavier ◽  
Christopher C Ferraro ◽  
...  

A common perception of plasma arc treatment systems for municipal solid waste incineration ash is that the resulting vitrified slag is inert from an environmental perspective. Research was conducted to examine this hypothesis and to assess whether reduced pollutant release results from pollutant depletion during the process of the ash with plasma, or encapsulation in the glassy vitrified matrix. The concentrations of four discrete municipal solid waste incineration ash samples before and after plasma arc vitrification in a bench-scale unit were compared. Slag and untreated ash samples were leached using several standardized approaches and mobility among the four metals of interest (e.g. As, Cd, Pb and Sb) varied across samples, but was generally high (as high as 100% for Cd). Comparison across methods did not indicate substantial encapsulation in the vitrified slag, which suggests that reduced pollutant release from plasma arc vitrified slag is due to pollutant depletion by volatilization, not encapsulation. This has significant implications for the management of air pollution control residues from waste-to-energy facilities using plasma arc vitrification.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (10_suppl) ◽  
pp. 67-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Bezama ◽  
Carla Douglas ◽  
Jacqueline Méndez ◽  
Nóra Szarka ◽  
Edmundo Muñoz ◽  
...  

2000 ◽  
Vol 122 (09) ◽  
pp. 52-56
Author(s):  
Michael Valenti

This article reviews many hospitals and medical centers have found it more economical to replace their on-site incinerators with alternative waste treatment technologies, primarily microwave systems or steam autoclaves, or send waste to treatment companies that are equipped with disinfection technologies. Sanitec International Holdings of West Caldwell, NJ, illustrates the in roads that alternatives are making to medical waste incineration. The entire Sanitec disinfection system is enclosed in all-weather steel housing, and is connected to the hospital’s electrical and water systems. Hospital workers bring collected waste in carts to the automated lift and load system, which raises the cart and empties it into the infeed hopper. The MediWaste system at Laredo is designed to treat up to 200 pounds of material per hour, which is more than sufficient to treat the 700 to 800 pounds of waste generated per day. Although incineration alternatives appear to be gaining popularity, combustion is still used to disinfect and reduce much clinical waste.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Magnani

This article seeks to make an original contribution to the study of environmental conflicts on waste management infrastructures by applying concepts derived from actor-network theory in an empirical case study. The article is organized into three main parts. The first highlights how the bulk of the literature on the subject has systematically ignored the role of natural/material factors. The second part analyzes the theoretical and methodological contribution of actor-network theory to the analysis of environmental conflicts. Finally, the third part focuses on a case study from northern Italy concerning a conflict over a project for a large-scale municipal waste-to-energy incinerator. The author shows how the outcome of the conflict, namely the failure of the project notwithstanding a convergence of powerful interests, can only be fully understood by adopting a relational definition of agency that sees it as the effect of the process of building associations between humans and nonhumans.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110606
Author(s):  
Isla Hodgkinson ◽  
Roman Maletz ◽  
Franz-Georg Simon ◽  
Christina Dornack

The concept of circular economy supports mitigation of climate change and other environmental pressures to the planet. Circulating materials in anthropogenic processes come with the risk of accumulating hazardous substances and compounds. In this concept, waste incineration or waste-to-energy (WtE) is a necessary technology to remove these compounds from the life cycle. In this mini-review, contaminants of major importance in the flue gas from waste incineration plants and their environmental impact are discussed. Air pollution of WtE is often seen as the most relevant environmental impact of this treatment option. The emission values parameter set for different countries is presented and compared. The most stringent legally set of emission values could be found in parts of Europe and South Korea. Japan also permits similar strict values when authorising individual incineration plants. In North America, the values are partially less strict as the best available technologies in Europe suggest being possible. Emerging economies, such as India and China, have shown efforts to improve their environmental protection standards but still have room to improve. This could be set in relation to other industrial emitting processes and therefore could be used to assess the relevance of this industry sector to the national emission inventories.


2020 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2096268
Author(s):  
Kyuyeon Kim ◽  
Suyoung Lee ◽  
Wonseok Yang ◽  
Gyunggoo Choi ◽  
Wonseok Lee ◽  
...  

The Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea has implemented the “Framework Act on Resource Recirculation” to activate waste resource recovery. However, industrial waste treatment facilities have some problems related to diversity of waste received for proper management of wastes. Waste incineration facilities are required to receive and process combustible waste and are forbidden to re-consign waste to other waste treatment facilities without any processing. In reality, a large quantity of incombustibles is injected into the incinerator because it is impossible to completely separate the incombustible materials. Therefore, it is necessary to develop additional management criteria for optimal operation of the incineration facility. This study was conducted to improve institutional management of incineration facilities in Korea. Through a literature review and statistics study, incombustible waste management trends were investigated. The characteristics of waste entering incineration facilities were surveyed. Physical composition and proximate analysis of incoming waste were conducted, and properties of the incombustibles mixed in feedstock to waste incineration facilities were examined. As a result of this study, incombustibles mainly consisting of the construction and demolition waste, such as soil, glass, and metals should be separated from feed sent to incinerators. A mechanical screening technique that sorts particles of 30–40 mm in size can be used to separate the incombustibles. Also, management criteria could be proposed to sort and re-consign the incombustibles.


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