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Energy from Waste

Sustainability Themes and Engineering Principles



Chris Cheeseman

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Imperial College London


Email: c.cheeseman@imperial.ac.uk
CI 181 Energy production and distribution















Sustainability:

What is the problem?
What are the opportunities?

Energy from waste technologies:

Biogas from landfill
Anaerobic digestion
Waste combustion
Mechanical Biological treatment (MBT)
Secondary Recovered Fuels (SRF)
Cement kilns

Conclusions

Lecture outline
World population growth
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
UK Population Growth
Energy use per capita
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Oil consumption worldwide
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Future temperature predictions
UK Energy supply
Potential to supply ~10% of UK energy from EfW
The UK energy gap
UK sources of alternative renewable energy
Cost of energy from different sources
Resource Efficient Economy
Linear system
Products
Natural
resources
Waste
Circular economy
Natural resources
Products
Products
Waste

To


Resource
Natural resources
Municipal solid waste collected, EU 15, 2007
Other important wastes used for energy generation
Hierarchy of waste management options
MSW management in the EU
Municipal solid waste sent to landfill in EU 15
Energy from Waste via Landfill Gas
Landfills as major construction projects
Landfill Processes


INPUTS: Liquids - present in waste, rain and other inputs
Solids - wastes inert and biodegradable parts
Gases - air in void spaces




PROCESSES: Microbial activity
Solution/precipitation reactions
Volatilisation
Sorption
Filtration


OUTPUTS: Landfill leachate
Landfill gas
Residual solids - what is left at the end
Landfill degradation:
Schematic of landfill stabilisation:
Aerobic: phases I and V
Anaerobic: phases II, III and IV
Methanogenic landfill gas composition
Landfill gas
Typical landfill gas
extraction well
Landfill gas extraction well
Schematic diagram of an operating landfill site
Landfill gas collection system
LANDFILL GAS (LFG):

LFG is typically approximately 50 - 60 % methane
Methane is flammable, explosive, colourless and odourless
Strong greenhouse gas that harms vegetation

Migration of LFG away from site is a significant concern

Up to 400 m
3
per tonne of waste over 25 years or more
13 m
3
per tonne per year at peak
1 million tonnes of MSW can produce 1,000 m
3
per hour

Controlled by use of impermeable barriers as for landfill leachate
Active pumping or passive extraction

Modern containment sites collect and use LFG

Green energy from landfill gas:

Gas extraction systems used in large modern landfill sites

Combusted and used to generate electricity and/or heat

Calorific value ~ 15 - 21 MJ/m
3
(natural gas is 37 MJ/m
3
)

Site containing 1 million tonnes can generate 1 MW of electricity

Currently around 150 UK sites are generating electricity

Producing a total of 292 megawatts

Estimated 500 LFG energy schemes worldwide

Yield of LFG - typically about 1 - 3 m
3
/tonne of waste per year

Maximum recorded is over 20 m
3
/tonne
Landfill gas production and collection for utilisation
Landfill gas production and collection
LFG EXPLOITATION:

Normally about 50% of landfill gas (LFG) is lost

LFG is saturated with water and this needs to be removed

Direct use in boilers, kilns and furnaces is easiest and cheapest

Most suited to large sites containing 200,000 to 500,000 tonnes of
waste

Bigger schemes are better, economies of scale

Pollutant emissions from LFG combustion are mainly carbon
dioxide, water vapour and minor pollutants

Probable decline beyond 2025 due to the effects of EU Landfill
Directive on waste composition reduction in biodegradable waste
Landfill should be the last resort for waste, particularly biodegradable waste;

The landfill tax will remain a key driver to divert waste from landfill;

It is necessary to ensure the UK meets key EU targets in 2013 and 2020.

Landfill Tax will increase until it reaches 80 per tonne in 2014/15.

Government Review of Waste Policy 2011
Reduction of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill:
2010 - reduce biodegradable waste to landfill to 75% of 1995 levels
2013 - reduce biodegradable waste to landfill to 50% of 1995 levels
2020 - reduce biodegradable waste to landfill to 35% of 1995 levels
EU Landfill Directive:


A landfill in a box!

Anaerobic Digestion (AD) effectively treats the organic component of waste

Huge range of green materials, rotten food, manure, industry-sourced organic
waste and even energy crops grown specifically for this purpose.

Enables biogas production under optimised conditions

Transforms the green waste into energy and a valuable natural fertilizer.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND9QoDS4ScY

Anaerobic digestion
Food waste to anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digester
Typical AD plants
Overall waste management scheme using AD
Composition and calorific values of MSW

Weight % Calorific value MJ/kg

Paper/board 33 16.9
Plastics 7 32.6
Glass 10 Nil
Metals 8 Nil
Food/garden 20 9.0
Textiles 4 15.6
Other 18 10.6
Moisture 31.2 w/w
Combustibles 44.6 w/w
Inert 24.2 w/w
Calorific value 10.6 MJ/kg

Calorific value of municipal solid waste ~ 1/3 of coal
1 Tonne MSW = 500kWh electricity or 200Kg of oil
UK Energy from waste (EfW) plants
Source: Incineration Transformation, A.Metcalfe, CIWM, June 2010
New proposed
WtE facilities
Source: Incineration Transformation,
A.Metcalfe, CIWM, June 2010
MSW Incineration plants in the UK
Plant Company Scale (tpa) Electrical Energy

Edmonton London Waste 500,000 32MW
Allington WRG 500,000 43MW
SELCHP SELCHP/Veolia 420,000 32MW
Tysesley Tyseley Waste/Veolia 350,000 25MW
Cleveland Sita 245,000 20MW
Coventry Coventry/Solihull WDC 240,000 18MW
Sheffield Veolia 225,000 + Heat 39MW
Stoke MES Environmental 200,000 13MW
Marchwood Veolia 165,000 14MW
Portsmouth Veolia 165,000 14MW
Nottingham Veolia 150,000 + Heat 20MW
Kirklees Sita 136,000 9MW
Dundee Dundee Energy Recycling 120,000 83MW
Wolverhampton MES Environmental 105,000 7MW
Dudley MES Environmental 90,000 7MW
Chineham Veolia 90,000 7MW
Isle of Man Sita 60,000 6MW

SELCHP (next to Millwall FC)

South East London Combined Heat and Power
Veolia EfW plant Southampton
400,000 tonnes capacity, operating from 2010
New Grundon/Viridor Lakeside EfW plant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRCuEInRqEY

446 large scale MSW incinerators in Europe
Number of plants in Europe
http://www.cewep.eu/

France 130 13.7
Germany 70 19.1
Italy 51 4.5
Sweden 31 4.7
Denmark 31 3.5
Switzerland 29 3.6
UK 24 4.4
Norway 20 1.0
Belgium 16 2.6
Netherlands 12 6.3
Spain 10 2.2
Austria 11 2.3
Portugal 3 1.1
Czech Republic 3 0.4
Finland 3 0.3
Slovakia 2 0.2


Number of
facilities
MSW
Treated
Mtonnes per year
CEWEP is the Confederation of European Waste to Energy Plants
Energy from Waste in Europe
From CEWEP
Spittelau waste to energy plant, Austria
Amsterdam
Largest WtE facility in the world @ 1.5 million tonnes per year
Energy from Waste (EfW)

Advantages:

No methane production
Incineration close to where waste is generated/collected
No long-term liabilities
EfW now has a track record in many countries
Produces biologically sterile ash with:
1/10 the volume
1/3rd the weight of original waste
Emissions are controlled
Extract energy from the waste
Bottom ash can be reused as aggregate in construction
Energy from Waste (EfW)


Disadvantages:

Generates carbon dioxide
Public perception
High costs and long pay back periods
Needs long-term waste disposal contracts
Regarded by some as not compatible with recycling
Needs high calorific value wastes
- paper and plastics
Concern over emissions - dioxins and furans
Production of ash residues requiring disposal

Schematic diagram of an EfW plant
Crane, typically a 5 Tonne grab
View of waste burning on the grate
Temperature is typically at 900 - 1000C
Optimum solution for MSW
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Status of UK energy from landfill gas and waste combustion
Waste delivered to
reception hall
Shredding and
mechanical
separation
Sent for
recycling
Metals
Anaerobic
Digestion
Landfill
SRF to market
Biogas for
electricity or fuel
for vehicles
Residues
Organics
Refuse derived fuel
Biomass fuel

Energy for homes
and businesses
Mechanical Biological Treatment
Producing Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF)
450,000 Tonnes of SRF currently produced in the UK (9 large facilities)
About 1.5 million tonnes SRF capacity planned (19 facilities)
SRF mainly used in cement kilns
Alternative to mass burn energy from waste plants
Plants currently producing SRF in the UK
Shanks/Eco deco at Frog Island - SRF
How Green is Mechanical
Biological Treatment?
http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/display/article-display/6685029706/articles/waste-management-world/volume-12/issue-2/features/how-green-is-mechanical-biological-treatment.html

SRF plants planned in the UK
Temperatures of 1450C
Uses high calorific value wastes
Cement kilns burning waste
UK renewable energy generation
Radius of influence
is typically about
30 metres
Conclusions
And in the long term!!!!!
Turn the lights out!!!!

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