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"Refuse as fuel"
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Gasification of refuse-derived fuel from municipal solid waste for energy production: a review
Dwindling fossil fuels and improper waste management are major challenges in the context of increasing population and industrialization, calling for new waste-to-energy sources. For instance, refuse-derived fuels can be produced from transformation of municipal solid waste, which is forecasted to reach 2.6 billion metric tonnes in 2030. Gasification is a thermal-induced chemical reaction that produces gaseous fuel such as hydrogen and syngas. Here, we review refuse-derived fuel gasification with focus on practices in various countries, recent progress in gasification, gasification modelling and economic analysis. We found that some countries that replace coal by refuse-derived fuel reduce CO2 emission by 40%, and decrease the amount municipal solid waste being sent to landfill by more than 50%. The production cost of energy via refuse-derived fuel gasification is estimated at 0.05 USD/kWh. Co-gasification by using two feedstocks appears more beneficial over conventional gasification in terms of minimum tar formation and improved process efficiency.
Journal Article
Turning poop into power fuel
\"Imagine stopping at a gas station, and filling your car with...poop. Fuel made from poop may sound like science fiction, but it's already science fact. This engrossingly gross book explores the powerful possibilities. We'll discover how scientists are learning to make renewable fuels from something that most people are happy to get rid of. Unlike fossil fuels, poop is cheap, it's plentiful, and it's everywhere we are. Whether it's to the store, or all the way to Mars, poop is going places\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Exploring Refuse-Derived Fuel Production from Seafood-Processing Sludge and Landfill-Mined Plastic Waste Co-Pelletization
This study explores the co-pelletization of sludge with landfill-mined plastic waste as a method to create high-energy refuse-derived fuel (RDF), addressing both plastic and sludge waste streams. Key variables used in RDF pelletization included sludge-to-plastic mixing ratios (50:50, 75:25, and 100:0 wt%), mold temperatures (100 °C and 120 °C), and compression pressures (60–80 MPa). Results showed that the characteristics of pellets improved considerably as the mass percentage of plastic waste increased. The 75% sludge mixture produced pellets with high compressive strength (15.9–16.4 MPa), indicating rigid and ductile properties, and achieved a calorific value of up to 33.4 MJ/kg. Mercury levels of the RDF (0.02–0.04 mg/MJ) met solid recovered fuel standards. However, the elevated chlorine content (>3 wt%db) highlighted the necessity of removing PVC from the plastic waste before pelletization. Carbon emission factors for the pellets (23–25 kg CO2/GJ) were comparable to commercial RDFs and notably lower than coal, demonstrating their potential as a sustainable alternative fuel source. An assessment of the entire production and utilization chain, including sludge drying, plastic sorting, pelletization, and combustion, revealed that co-pelletization reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 24.3% compared to current practices.
Journal Article
Pyrolysis and Gasification of a Real Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF): The Potential Use of the Products under a Circular Economy Vision
Refuse-Derived Fuels (RDFs) are segregated forms of wastes obtained by a combined mechanical–biological processing of municipal solid wastes (MSWs). The narrower characteristics, e.g., high calorific value (18–24 MJ/kg), low moisture content (3–6%) and high volatile (77–84%) and carbon (47–56%) contents, make RDFs more suitable than MSWs for thermochemical valorization purposes. As a matter of fact, EU regulations encourage the use of RDF as a source of energy in the frameworks of sustainability and the circular economy. Pyrolysis and gasification are promising thermochemical processes for RDF treatment, since, compared to incineration, they ensure an increase in energy recovery efficiency, a reduction of pollutant emissions and the production of value-added products as chemical platforms or fuels. Despite the growing interest towards RDFs as feedstock, the literature on the thermochemical treatment of RDFs under pyrolysis and gasification conditions still appears to be limited. In this work, results on pyrolysis and gasification tests on a real RDF are reported and coupled with a detailed characterization of the gaseous, condensable and solid products. Pyrolysis tests have been performed in a tubular reactor up to three different final temperatures (550, 650 and 750 °C) while an air gasification test at 850 °C has been performed in a fluidized bed reactor using sand as the bed material. The results of the two thermochemical processes are analyzed in terms of yield, characteristics and quality of the products to highlight how the two thermochemical conversion processes can be used to accomplish waste-to-materials and waste-to-energy targets. The RDF gasification process leads to the production of a syngas with a H2/CO ratio of 0.51 and a tar concentration of 3.15 g/m3.
Journal Article
Comparative Analysis of Municipal Solid Waste to RDF Pretreatment Methods in Indonesia
Municipal solid waste in Indonesia has a high potential to be used as an alternative energy source. One of the methods is by producing refuse-derived fuel (RDF) as coal substitution. Pre-treatment is needed to reduce high water content in domestic waste, especially in Indonesia, to produce high-quality RDF. This study compares and analyzes the optimal pre-treatment method to produce RDF from domestic waste based on each RDF product characteristic. The research reviewed and analyzed the data of RDF characteristics of various pre-treatment methods applied in Indonesia from pilot-scale experiments as primary data and previous research as secondary data. The methods compared are fermentation method, sun-drying, and bio drying. RDF from each method was tested to collect the proximate and ultimate characteristics data. Statistical analysis of RDF characteristics is carried out to determine whether there is a significant difference from different pre-treatment methods. This analysis shows no significant effect on the difference in the characteristics of the RDF. RDF from bio drying provides the highest average number of calorific values and lowest moisture content. The study concluded that the bio drying method is recommended in more waste treatment facilities in Indonesia to increase waste as an alternative energy resource.
Journal Article
Co-Firing of Refuse-Derived Fuel with Ekibastuz Coal in a Bubbling Fluidized Bed Reactor: Analysis of Emissions and Ash Characteristics
Converting municipal solid waste (MSW) into valuable feedstocks, such as refuse-derived fuel (RDF), is a sustainable method according to the concept of waste management hierarchy. A heterogeneous composition with a good calorific value and lower emissions allows RDF to be used for energy recovery purposes. We have earlier analyzed the generation and thermochemical characteristics of the MSW produced in Kazakhstan. This work aims to study the combustion characteristics in terms of emissions and ash composition to evaluate the possibility of RDF co-firing with Ekibastuz coal. In particular, RDF is blended with high ash bituminous coal (Ekibastuz coal) and co-fired in the laboratory scale bubbling fluidized bed reactor (BFB) at a bed temperature of 850 °C. The co-firing tests of RDF to coal samples were conducted under various proportions to analyze flue gas compositions. Experiments were carried in the presence of bed material (sand), and the fuel particles were fed in batch mode into the hot riser. The BFB reactor had a height of 760 mm and internal diameter of 48 mm. The gaseous products in the flue gas were analyzed by FTIR spectrometry (Gasmet Dx4000). Ash composition was examined by XRD, XRF, SEM, and PSD. The results showed that a high RDF content decreased SO2 emissions to 28 ppm, while it negatively affected NOx release to 1400 ppm, owing to excess air. The emissions of gases from different blended samples and mineral transformations were investigated and discussed in this study.
Journal Article
Evaluating Coal, RDF, and Ammonia Blends in Power Plants: Techno-Economic Insights and Coal Phase-Out Implications
This comprehensive techno-economic analysis focuses on a proposed power plant that uses cleaner alternatives to traditional combustion methods. The study meticulously examines ternary blends of ammonia, refuse-derived fuels (RDFs), and coal. Utilizing an Aspen Plus simulation equilibrium model, a thorough review of the relevant literature, and evaluation reports on biomass-to-energy power plants and ammonia combustion, the analysis spans 20 years. It considers vital financial metrics such as the net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and payback period (PBP). The findings indicate that the combustion of pure coal is the most energy-efficient but has the highest global warming potential (GWP). In contrast, ammonia and RDF blends significantly reduce GWP, with ammonia showing a 3215% lower GWP than coal. Economically, pure coal remains the most attractive option. However, blends of 80% coal, 10% ammonia, and 10% RDF also show promise with a PBP of 11.20 years at a 15% discount rate. These results highlight the potential of ammonia and RDF blends to balance environmental and economic considerations in power generation.
Journal Article
A Review on Anaerobic Co-Digestion with a Focus on the Microbial Populations and the Effect of Multi-Stage Digester Configuration
Recent studies have shown that anaerobic co-digestion (AnCoD) is superior to conventional anaerobic digestion (AD). The benefits of enhanced bioenergy production and solids reduction using co-substrates have attracted researchers to study the co-digestion technology and to better understand the effect of multi substrates on digester performance. This review will discuss the results of such studies with the main focus on: (1) generally the advantages of co-digestion over mono-digestion in terms of system stability, bioenergy, and solids reduction; (2) microbial consortia diversity and their synergistic impact on biogas improvement; (3) the effect of digester mode, i.e., multi-stage versus single stage digestion on AnCoD. It is essential to note that the studies reported improvement in the synergy and diverse microbial consortia when using co-digestion technologies, in addition to higher biomethane yield when using two-stage mode. A good example would be the co-digestion of biodiesel waste and glycerin with municipal waste sludge in a two-stage reactor resulting in 100% increase of biogas and 120% increase in the methane content of the produced biogas with microbial population dominated by Methanosaeta and Methanomicrobium.
Journal Article
Recycling municipal, agricultural and industrial waste into energy, fertilizers, food and construction materials, and economic feasibility: a review
The global amount of solid waste has dramatically increased as a result of rapid population growth, accelerated urbanization, agricultural demand, and industrial development. The world's population is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, while solid waste production will reach 2.59 billion tons. This will deteriorate the already strained environment and climate situation. Consequently, there is an urgent need for methods to recycle solid waste. Here, we review recent technologies to treat solid waste, and we assess the economic feasibility of transforming waste into energy. We focus on municipal, agricultural, and industrial waste. We found that methane captured from landfilled-municipal solid waste in Delhi could supply 8–18 million houses with electricity and generate 7140 gigawatt-hour, with a prospected potential of 31,346 and 77,748 gigawatt-hour by 2030 and 2060, respectively. Valorization of agricultural solid waste and food waste by anaerobic digestion systems could replace 61.46% of natural gas and 38.54% of coal use in the United Kingdom, and could reduce land use of 1.8 million hectares if provided as animal feeds. We also estimated a levelized cost of landfill solid and anaerobic digestion waste-to-energy technologies of $0.04/kilowatt-hour and $0.07/kilowatt-hour, with a payback time of 0.73–1.86 years and 1.17–2.37 years, respectively. Nonetheless, current landfill waste treatment methods are still inefficient, in particular for treating food waste containing over 60% water.
Journal Article