ENERGY FROM WASTE TECHNOLOGIES

Converting energy from waste (ERW) is one of the solution derive to help in waste disposing,
it will lessen the depending on landfill and at the same time help in generating renewable
energy. Basically the ERW technologies are divided into 2 main categories which are thermal
and non-thermal technologies.

Type of technologies

Advance thermal technology (ATT)

ATT is the production of electricity and heat by the thermal treatment decomposition of the
waste and subsequent use of the secondary products (syngas). Any non-compostable material
was sorted and removes. ATT employ pyrolysis and/or gasification to process municipal solid
waste (MSW). The gasification and pyrolysis of solid materials has been used extensively to
produce fuels such as charcoal, coke and town or producer gas. Charcoal and coke are
produced by pyrolysing wood and coal respectively and producer gas is a combustible gas
produced by the gasification of coke in the presence of air and steam(Defra 2013b).

Gasification can be considered a process between pyrolysis and combustion in that it involves
the partial oxidation of a substance. This means that oxygen is added but the amounts are not
sufficient to allow the fuel to be completely oxidized and full combustion to occur. The
temperatures employed are typically above 650C. This process will produce a synthetic gas
called syngas.

Pyrolysis is the thermal degradation of a substance in the absence of oxygen. This process
requires an external heat source to maintain the temperature required. Typically, lower
temperatures of between 300C to 850C are used during pyrolysis of materials such as MSW.
Raw municipal waste is usually not appropriate for pyrolysis and typically would require
some mechanical preparation and separation of glass, metals and inert materials (such as
rubble) prior to processing the remaining waste. The products produced from pyrolysing
materials are a solid residue and a synthesis gas called syngas(Defra 2013a).

The synthetic gas created from pyrolysis and gasification process can be burn in a boiler to
create steam to generate electricity.
Mechanical biological technology

A technology that combines the mechanical separation process and composting in generating
electricity and other derive fuel for other energy from waste plant. Mechanical Biological
Treatment (MBT) is a generic term for an integration of several mechanical processes
commonly found in other waste management facilities such as Materials Recovery Facilities
(MRFs), composting or Anaerobic Digestion plant (Defra 2013c).

Incineration

Incineration is the direct combustion of municipal waste (MSW) without any preprocess of
MSW. Preprocess is a stage where the remove of water, metal and non-combustible material is
sort out. Incineration usually involves the combustion of unprepared MSW. To allow the
combustion to take place a sufficient quantity of oxygen is required to fully oxidize the MSW.
Any non-combustible materials remain as a solid, known as Bottom Ash, which contains a
small amount of residual carbon.

A typical incineration with energy recovery will consist of these following key elements.

1. Waste reception and handling,

Waste reception and handling is where the first stage of receiving MSW. The MSW is
delivered by waste collection vehicle and tipped into a waste pit or bunker. The mixing
is required to blend the waste to ensure that the energy input to the combustion
chamber is as consistent as possible.

2. Combustion chamber,
There is multiple type of combustion chamber.

Grated Chamber
2 type of Grated Chamber;

Moving grate
The moving grate furnace system is the most commonly used combustion
system. The waste is slowly propelled through the combustion chamber
(furnace) by a mechanically actuated grate. Waste continuously enters one end
of the furnace and ash is continuously discharged at the other. The plant is
configured to enable complete combust the waste moves through the furnace.
Process conditions are controlled to optimize the waste combustion, to ensure
complete combustion of the feed. End of the grate normally passes the hot ash
to a quench to rapidly cool the remaining non-combustibles. (Defra 2013b)
 Fixed Grate
These are typically a series of steps (normally 3) with the waste being moved
by a series of rams. The first step is a drying stage and initial combustion
phase, the second is where the remaining combustion takes place and the third
grate is for final carbon burn-out.(Defra 2013b)

Fluidised Bed

The combustion of MSW using a fluidised bed (FB) technique involves pre-sorting of
MSW material to remove heavy and inert objects, such as metals, prior to processing
in the furnace. The waste is then mechanically processed to reduce the particle size.
The combustion is normally a single stage process and consists of a lined chamber
with a granular bubbling bed of an inert material such as coarse sand/silica or similar
bed medium. The bed is fluidised by air being blown vertically through the material at
a high flow rate (Rogoff, Marc J. Screve 2011).

Rotary kiln

Rotary kilns have wide application and can be a complete rotation vessel or partial
rotational type. Incineration in a rotary kiln is normally a two stage process consisting
of a kiln and separate secondary combustion chamber. The kiln is the primary
combustion chamber and is inclined downwards from the feed entry point. The
rotation moves the waste through the kiln with a tumbling action which exposes the
waste to heat and oxygen. There is also a proprietary system which oscillates a
rotating kiln for smaller scale incineration of MSW with energy recovery. (Defra
2013b)

3. Energy recovery plant,

The standard approach for the recovery of energy from the incineration of MSW is to
utilise the combustion heat through a boiler to generate steam. Of the total available
energy in the waste up to 80% can be retrieved in the boiler to produce steam. The
 steam can be used for the generation of power via a steam turbine and/or used for
heating. An energy recovery plant that produces both heat and power is commonly
referred to as a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant and this is the most efficient
option for utilising recovered energy from waste via a steam boiler.(Defra 2013b)

4. Emissions clean-up for combustion gases

To meet these emissions limits, the combustion process must be correctly controlled
and the flue gases cleaned prior to their final release. The clean-up process using
filtration system using fabric filter collectors, also known as baghouse, were selected
as the means of removing particulates from the gas stream.(Rea, G 1994)

5. Bottom ash handling and air pollution control resdue handling

The main residual material from the incineration of MSW is referred to as bottom
ash or Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA). The bottom ash is continually discharged from
the combustion chamber and is then cooled. The amount of ash will depend on the
level of waste pre-treatment prior to entering the Incinerator and will also contains
metals that can be recovered for recycling.

PROCESSES

In this section will explain on the implementation of the technology and flow of the MSW from the
delivery until power generation and byproduct collection.

Process Flow of feedstock

Feedstock is the name given to any wastes that are going to be use for fuel in generating energy. The
flow chart in figure 3.1 shows the basic processes in generating energy from waste.

Figure 3.1 Basic process in generating energy from electricity.

Figure 3.2 complete process in EFW generation using incineration method.

MATERIAL PROCESS

Stage 1; Receive

The plant will receive the MSW from any Municipal Council and Private operated trash
collection service. Each lorry will be charge with gate toll. The lorry will unload the MSW at
the tipping hall where the MSW will be stored in a pit.

Stage 2; Mixing

In the pit the MSW will be mix and dried. There are six pits, each pit show the different stages
of MSW. Pit no six is the final pit where the MSW become feedstock. The purpose of mixing
is to get an even moisture content so that the burning of the feedstock will produce even even
energy.

Stage 3; Transfer

After the feedstock is ready, the feedstock is transfer into the combustion hopper.
COMBUSTION

Stage 4; Efficient Combustion

Feedstoc enters the combustion chamber on a timed moving grate, which turns it over
repeatedly to keep it exposed and burning this will ensure the complete burning of the
feedstock. A measured injection of oxygen and fumes drawn from the receiving area makes
for a more complete burn.

FILTERATION

Stage 4; Filteration of airborn particle and treatment of harmfull gasses

The burning of the feedstock will relaease fly ash particle, nitrogen oxide, dioxin and furans.
Nitrogen oxide in the rising burn gases is neutralized by the injection of ammonia or urea.
Dioxins and furans are destroyed by exposing flue gases to a sustained temperature of
1,562F/850C for two seconds. This process removes more than 99 percent of dioxins and
furans. Activated carbon (charcoal treated with oxygen to increase its porosity) is injected into
the hot gases to absorb and remove heavy metals, such as mercury and cadmium.

BOTTOM ASH

Stage 4; Collection and sorting bottom Ash

The unburned remains of combustion, bottom ash are passed by magnets and eddy current
separators to remove both ferrous and other metalssuch as copper, brass, nickel, and
aluminum for recycling. The remaining ash are send or sold be used as aggregate for roadbeds
and rail embankments.

ENERGY GENERATION

Stage 4; Electricity Generation

Highly efficient superheated steam powers the steam turbine generator. The cooling steam is
cycled back into water through the condensor or diverted as a heat source for buildings or
desalinization plants. Cooled stream is reheated in the economizer and superheater to
complete the steam cycle.
References

Defra, 2013a. Advanced Thermal Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste. ,

(February). Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/22
1035/pb13888-thermal-treatment-waste.pdf.

Defra, 2013b. Incineration of Municipal Solid Waste. , (February), p.56. Available

at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/22
1036/pb13889-incineration-municipal-waste.pdf.

Defra, 2013c. Mechanical Biological Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste. ,

(February), p.57. Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mechanical-biological-treatment-of-
municipal-solid-waste.

Rea, G, W., 1994. Recovering Energy from Waste: Emissions and Their Control. ,
(1), pp.5369.

Rogoff, Marc J. Screve, F., 2011. WTE technology. In Waste-to-Energy -

Technologies and Project Implementation. pp. 2143. Available at:
http://app.knovel.com/hotlink/pdf/id:kt00BJRRN1/waste-energy-technologies/wte-
technology.