Municipal

Solid Waste to Energy

Technologies: Environmental Assessment Chalita Suwan
Workshop on Sustainability of Solid Waste Management in Thailand King Mongkuts University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok October 11, 2010

 Status

0.6-0.7 kg/capita/day g p y

66 Million People
40 000 ton/day 40,000
Only 38% of total solid waste i managed is db by sanitary i disposal system
38%

62%

 Status

Sanitary landfill is the most commonly used system in Thailand.

 Bangkok MSW Composition Electricity Production P t ti l Potential

Bangkok MSW Composition (PCD, 2008)

Other 34% (yard waste, glass, cloth, metals, etc.)

Food Waste 43%

100 ton MSW can produce 1 MWh electricity. (Rule of Thumb) 40,000 ton MSW can produce p 400 MWh electricity .
Plastic 11% Paper 12%

 Waste to Energy Quote

The old practice of waste disposal has been to dump in open landfills, landfills which results in garbage in and garbage remains. The goal for the new millennium must be garbage in and energy out in an environmentally acceptable manner.
(Gupta 2004) (Gupta,

 Waste to Energy WtE Technologies

Waste to Energy (WtE)

refers to any waste treatment that creates energy in the form of electricity or heat from a waste source. source

Waste to Energy Technologies

Incineration Anaerobic Digestion Landfill Gas to Energy Refuse R f D Derived i dF Fuel; l RDF Plasma Arc

 Incineration

Incineration is described as thermal treatment for

reducing mass and volume of wastes effectively destroying hazardous components of the waste

High Hi ht temperature t (650 (650-1,200 1 200 C) is i employed l d for f combustion b ti process. Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. Effective controls are required to prevent the negative impacts on human health and environment.

Phuket Incineration Plant

continuous burning grate-type 250 tons MSW/day 2.5 MW power production

 Incineration

 Anaerobic Digestion

Anaerobic digestion can be used as a pre-treatment to reduce the volume and stabilize material for disposal in landfills. Organic fractions in MSW is decomposed by anaerobic microorganisms. Methane is a predominant product from anaerobic digestion. In addition to energy recovery recovery, digestate can be further used as soil conditioner.

Rayong y g Anaerobic Digestion g Plant

60 tons organic waste/day 0.625 MW power production

 Landfill Gas to Energy Landfill stands alone as the only waste disposal that can deal with all materials in the solid waste stream. Landfill is considered the simplest, and in many areas the cheapest, of disposal methods. Outputs after composition are:

The final stabilized solid waste Leachate Landfill gas

Collection and control of landfill gas is needed for safety and environmental reasons. The collected landfill gas can be:

Flared of Used as a fuel

Kampaeng p g Saen Landfill Project j

Initial landfill gas recovery project Horizontal gas collector 6,000 ton MSW/day 870 (4352) kW electricity generator

 Refuse Derived Fuel: RDF

RDF involves the mechanical processing to recover recyclable materials and to produce a combustible product. RDF can be processed to half the calorific value of coal coal. RDF can be co-fired with other fuels in a variety of industrial boilers. Weaknesses

High investment high electrical power consumption and maintenance

 Plasma Arc

Temperatures 4,000C to over 7,000 C Hazardous & toxic compounds broken down to elemental constituents by high temperatures Organic materials are converted to fuel gases Residual materials (inorganics, heavy metals, etc.) immobilized in a rock-like vitrified mass which is highly resistant to leaching
The Plama Arc Plant at MihamaMikata, Japan converts unprocessed MSW and WWTP sludge to fuel gas.

 WtE: Environmental Assessment

Environmental Assessment of Energy Production from MSW Incineration

Li Liamsanguan and d Gh Gheewala l (2006)

 Objective Functional Unit

The comparison p of environmental impacts p of electricity yp production from incineration with those of Thai conventional power plants. F ti l unit: it 1 MWh net t electricity l t i it produced d d Functional

System Comparison from a Life Cycle Perspective

System Comparison from a Life Cycle Perspective

with Energy recovery

Incineration

Power Plant

w/o Energy Recovery

Landfilling

MSW management

Electricity production

Electricity production

MSW management

* Fossil fuels for conventional power plants are lignite, fuel oil, diesel oil, natural gas

Phuket MSW Characteristics

Phuket MSW Characteristics
Waste composition (%) Plastic Food Wood/grass Paper Cloth Rubber/leather Incombustible Others Waste properties Density (kg/m3) Moisture content (%) LHV (kcal/kg) 379 41 1,750 27.71 18.12 13.65 11.45 3.06 1.85 15.44 8.71

 Results

10
GWP (kg CO2 eq./MWh el) POCP (kg C 2H 4 eq./MWh el)

30,000

25,568

8 6 4 2
0.49 0.02

7.72

20,000
14,113

10,000
741

0
Incineration Pow er plant Pow er plant + landfilling

0
Incineration Pow er plant Pow er plant + landfilling

60 ACP (kg SO 2 eq q./MWhel ) 50 40

30 20 10 0 Incineration Pow er plant Pow er plant + landfilling 2 34 2.34 2 89 2.89

80
45.83

NEP (kg NO3- eq q./MWh el)

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

68.96

3 32 3.32

4.22

Incineration Pow er plant Pow er plant + landfilling

CONCLUSION
Conclusion

From holistic comparison, p incineration is advantageous g for global warming and photochemical ozone formation but is disadvantageous for acidification and nutrient enrichment. Incineration could not play the major role for electricity production, but in addition to being a waste management option, could be considered as a complement to conventional power production. To improve the environmental performance of MSW incineration incineration, providing deNOx and dioxin removal processes, separation of high moisture content waste fractions and improvement of the operation efficiency should be considered

 WtE: Environmental Assessment

Environmental Evaluation of MSW Management in A Life Cycle Perspective

Li Liamsanguan and d Gh Gheewala l (2007)

 Objective Scope of the Study

Incineration with energy recovery or Landfilling a d g without t out energy recovery Which is a superior system ?

To compare the holistic environmental impacts of MSW management systems between landfilling and incineration

Study site: Phuket Functional unit: 1 ton of Phuket MSW treated

Incineration
Incineration
Emissions

Emissions Resources /Energy

Diesel Electricity

Resources /Energy Emissions Emissions Resources /Energy

Electricity

Resources /Energy

Emissions

System Comparison from a Life Cycle Perspective

System Comparison from a Life Cycle Perspective

with Energy recovery

Incineration

Power Plant

w/o Energy Recovery

Landfilling

MSW management

Electricity production

Electricity production

MSW management

Results
1500.00

Results

1,351

0.5 0.4

0.42

GWP (CO2 eq.)

651

POP (C2H4 eq.)

1000.00

0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 -0.1 l dfilli landfilling Indirect activities I i Incineration ti Emission avoidance

500.00

0.00 g landfilling -500.00 Direct activities Indirect activities Emission avoidance Incineration

0.03

Direct activities

2.5

2.11

3.21

3.5 NEP (NO3- eq.)

AP (SO2 e eq.)

1.5

2.5 1.5 0.5 -0.5

0.04

0.5

0.02

-0.5 landfilling Direct activities Indirect activities Incineration Emission avoidance

landfilling Direct activities Indirect activities

Incineration Emission avoidance

CONCLUSION
Conclusion

Major contributor to each impact

Major contributor CH4 from Landfilling CO2 from incineration

Impact category Global warming arming

Photo-oxidant formation Acidification Nutrient enrichment

CH4 from Landfilling NO2 from incineration NO2 from incineration

 Conclusion

Incineration was found to be superior superior to landfiling in term of global warming and photo-oxidant formation Landfilling g was better for acidification and nutrient enrichment. Landfilling reversed to be superior to incineration in term of global warming when methane is recovered for electricity production

50% recovery of landfill gas leads to the reduction of 58% GWP and 37% POP

Aspects influencing the environmental performance of Incineration

Increasing the efficiency of plastic separation can reduce GWP Separation of high moisture content of feed stock could improve the environmental performance of MSW incineration If NO2 is removed by de-NOx equipment, AP and NEP will be decreased

 Thing to think about about.

Anaerobic Digestion Recycling Organic Waste Recyclable Waste

Incineration

Landfill Oth Waste Other W t

Combustible Waste

ow to separate??

THANK YOU

You cannot Y t love l a thing th without wanting to fight for it.

Chesterton
Dr. Ch D Chalita lit S Suwan King Monkuts University of Technology North Bangkok chalitas@kmutnb.ac.th