CEV 523 Solid Waste Management and Air P

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA CAWANGAN PULAU PINANG
KAMPUS PERMATANG PAUH
CEV 523:
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AND AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
CASE STUDY:
ENERGY CONVERSION FROM SOLID WASTE VIA THERMAL CONVERSION IN

DENMARK
LECTURER:
SIR MUHAMMAD ZAHIRUDDIN BIN RAMLI
GROUP: PEH2245C1/C2 (GROUP 3)
PREPARED BY:
NAME MATRIC NO
SYAZWANI BINTI ABD RAHMAN 2017485312
IMAN ATHIRAH BINTI KHAMIS 2017855606
PUTERI NURHAYANI BINTI ASMADI 2017824856
NUR IFFAH NABIHAH MUHAMMAD ANUAR 2017446462
MOHAMAD YUSUF BIN DARMAN 2017485336

Waste to Energy
CEV 523-SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AND AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
CASE STUDY: ENERGY CONVERSION FROM SOLID WASTE VIA THERMAL CONVERSION IN DENMARK
Table of Contents
1.INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................................ 3
1.1 WASTES TO ENERGY........................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 CASE STUDY REPORT OUTLINE ......................................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 ENERGY CONVERSION PROCESS SELECTION & JUSTIFICATION ................................................................................. 5
1.4 OVERVIEW OF THERMAL CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES ............................................................................................... 6
1.5 REACTION MECHANISM OF INCINERATION (COMBUSTION) ........................................................................................... 7
2.PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION ........................................................................................................................................................ 8
2.1 INTRODUCTION OF THE ISSUES ......................................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 PROPOSAL OF EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS .......................................................................................................................... 10
3. PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM ...................................................................................................................................................... 12
3.1 PFD OF PROPOSED THERMAL CONVERSION SYSTEM ................................................................................................ 12
3.2 PROCESS EQUIPMENT DETAILS ..................................................................................................................................... 13
3.2.1 Material Recovery Facility ............................................................................................................................................. 13
3.2.2 Waste Pit......................................................................................................................................................................... 14
3.2.3 Combustion Chamber .................................................................................................................................................... 15
3.2.4 Flue Gas Clean-Up ......................................................................................................................................................... 17
3.2.5 Steam Turbine Generator .............................................................................................................................................. 18
3.2.6 Solid Fuel Boiler ............................................................................................................................................................. 19
3.2.7 Wet Scrubber.................................................................................................................................................................. 19
3.2.8 Gas Sack......................................................................................................................................................................... 20
4. WASTE GENERATION IN DENMARK ........................................................................................................................................ 21
4.1 WASTE STATISTIC............................................................................................................................................................. 21
4.2 EVALUATION OF ENERGY AND EFFICIENCY ................................................................................................................. 23
4.2.1 Waste that are suitable for incineration ........................................................................................................................ 23
4.2.2 Calculation of Dry basis and energy content of each waste ....................................................................................... 24
4.2.2 Computation of energy output and efficiency.............................................................................................................. 27
4.3 RECCOMENDATION .......................................................................................................................................................... 29
4.3.1 Temperature Controlled................................................................................................................................................. 29
4.3.2 Hazardous waste controlled .......................................................................................................................................... 29
4.3.3 Energy Recovery ............................................................................................................................................................ 30
4.3.4 Methods .......................................................................................................................................................................... 30
4.3.5 Other Processes .............................................................................................................................................................. 30
5. CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 31
6. WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................................................................................... 32
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Waste to Energy
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 WASTES TO ENERGY
The concept of waste was once generally defined as the useless by-product of
human activities which physical contains the same substance that are available in
the useful product (White et al, 1995) or they have also been defined as any product
or material which is useless to producer (Basu, 2009).But, in modern day of waste
management- how do we exactly define the term of waste? A waste can be
regarded as a substance that may be seen as a waste by one individual but can also
be another resource that is useful to another individual (Djikema et al, 2000). Thus, it
can be conclude that any material or substance can only be regarded as waste
when the owner label it as such (DEFRA, 2011).
Naturally, waste is an inevitable product of society and one of the greatest

challenges of the future generation is to develop and implement a well-established
management concerning a large quantity of waste in a sustainable way. With the
rapid growing of population and in addition, an increasingly demand of urbanization
rate and economic growth; represent a challenge to domestic solid waste in term of
generation rates, waste composition and treatment technologies. But the waste
management sector faces a problem that it cannot solve on its own and this is where
the energy sector is considered to be a perfect match (World Energy Council, 2016).
Energy recovery from waste can solve two problems at once by treating the non-
recyclable and non-reusable of waste and generate significant amount of energy in
the form of electricity, heat or transport fuel from the waste source (Team F. N.,
2018)
Therefore, Waste to Energy technologies can be seen as potential approach in

the future as one of the alternatives to treat and utilized waste to provide a
renewable energy.
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Waste to Energy
1.2 CASE STUDY REPORT OUTLINE
This report is intended to provide a background review regarding the case study
of energy conversion of municipal solid waste by basing on the Waste Statistic Data
of 2015 report published by The Danish Environmental Protection Agency with using
thermal conversion technologies. The items are structured as follow:
 Section 1: Introduction of WtE, selection of proper energy conversion

technology and its justification.
 Section 2: Problem Identification of Incineration based technologies used in
Denmark and its effective solutions.
 Section 3: Illustration of propose PDF with complete thermal processing
system and APC system and its detail
 Section 4: Waste statistic of Denmark and its evaluation of energy from the
waste data and its recommendation to improve the efficiency of energy
produced
 Section 5: Conclusion
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Waste to Energy
1.3 ENERGY CONVERSION PROCESS SELECTION & JUSTIFICATION
Waste to Energy typically involve the conversion of solid waste into energy by
using two types of energy conversion process which are 1) thermal energy
conversion technology or 2) biological energy conversion processing. For this case
study, our team chooses thermal energy conversion technology which is mass fired
combustion or also known as incineration as the energy recovery solution to
municipal solid waste produce from Denmark in the year 2015.
The reason why we choose incineration as the process is because firstly is to

save more space of land in efficient way. This is mostly due to the function of
incinerator that can reduce the waste volume approximately to 95% and mass of the
original waste by 80% to 85% (Stothers, 2018). For the small country such as
Denmark that only holds 5 million of population and land area of 43,094 km2,
incineration is the viable option compared to landfill that take up large amounts of
space.
Furthermore, incineration is also the most established process to generate

energy. As of 2016, approximately of 2200 waste-to-energy power plants in
operation around the planet (ecoprog, 2016) and all these facilities burn solid waste
at high temperature to boil water and power steam generator which then produce
electricity to be distributes on the power grid (GreenTumble, 2018). In addition, in
the year of 2005, incineration of solid waste produced mostly 4.8% of the electricity
consumption and 13.7% of the total domestic heat consumption in Denmark
(S.Bunce, 2010)
Last but not least, incineration based technologies are chosen because it emit
lower carbon footprint compared to other option of waste management such as
landfill. Moreover, organic matter break down in landfill contribute 30% percent more
to global warming compare to burning in an incinerator which are far from zero
emission but still the better option (J.Themelis, 2003)
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Waste to Energy
1.4 OVERVIEW OF THERMAL CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES
Thermal conversion technologies are one of the methods that could reduce the
problems associated with abundant of solid waste generation transforming into
energy. Thermal processing of solid waste is defined as the conversion of solid
wastes into gaseous, liquid, and solid conversion products, with the concurrent or
subsequent release of heat energy (Tchobanoglous et al, 1993).
These technologies are generally grouped into two categories: conventional

combustion and advanced thermal treatment (Stantec, 2011). Conventional
combustion technologies include mass-fired combustion system, RDF-fired
combustion, and fluidized bed combustion. In Europe over 90% of WTE facilities
utilize mass burn incineration technology (Stantec, 2011) also known as mass-fired
combustion technology.
Development in waste treatment to energy in which with advanced thermal

treatment such as gasification and pyrolysis is seen as other ways for the waste
treatment. Gasification is the term to describe the process of partial combustion in
which fuel is deliberately combusted with less than stoichiometric air
(Tchobanoglous et al, 1993). Besides that, gasification is a technology with energy-
efficient technique for reducing solid waste volume and energy recovery. The
organic waste is heated to produce syngas which consist of hydrogen gas and
carbon monoxides along with other components (Stantec, 2011). The mostly gasifier
used are vertical fixed bed, horizontal fixed bed and fluidized bed.
In 1960, pyrolysis process gained attention as it can typically well suit for MSW
which is 60% organic matter contained (Stantec, 2011). Pyrolysis is defined as
thermal processing of waste in the complete absence of oxygen (Tchobanoglous et
al, 1993) which the end product consists of char, oxygenated oils, and syngas such
as CO2, CO, CH4, and H2 (Stantec, 2011).
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1.5 REACTION MECHANISM OF INCINERATION (COMBUSTION)
Incineration based technology of carbon-based materials in an o -

C will produced gas composed
of primarily of carbon dioxide and water. Other than that, the air emissions of
nitrogen dioxides sulphur dioxide, etc. are also form. During the full combustion, an
oxygen excess will cause the stoichiometric coefficient of oxygen in the reaction
s w b “1”. T , s
s q “1”, b d s d dd
and s s d 1 C (Konstantinos
Moustakas,Maria Loizidou, 2010). Thus, by taking this theory into consideration, the
reaction mechanism that taking place will be:
1)……………….C + O2 CO2 + 399.77J

)……………….CXHY + (x+y/4) xCO2 + y/2 H2O
In the case of lack of oxygen, the reaction will be characterized as an incomplete

combustion in where the produced carbon dioxides react with C that has not been
consumed yet and is converted to carbon monoxide at higher temperature.
(Konstantinos Moustakas,Maria Loizidou, 2010)
3)……………….C + O2 +172.58J 2CO
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Waste to Energy
2. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
2.1 INTRODUCTION OF THE ISSUES
The incineration based technologies, have being widely used as an established

thermal treatment mostly in European countries which hold the largest and most
sophisticated market for WtE technologies accounting for 47.6% of total market
revenue in 2013 while the Asia-Pacific market are 60% dominated by Japan (World
Energy Council, 2016). Incineration technology can be described as a controlled
combustion of unprepared raw waste by using sufficient quantity of oxygen with the
recovery of heat to produce steam that in turn produces power through steam
turbines (DEFRA, 2007).Nevertheless, despite being an established and attractive
technological option to handle waste management especially for municipal solid
waste (MSW),incineration also have their disadvantages that still remain as an
intense debate in the scope of environmental, economic and social.
First, the identification of the main problem that still lies in incineration based
technologies is environmental issue. This is mainly because of the production of
ash at the end of the incineration process. Mostly, incineration process will produce
two type of ash which consist of bottom ash which come from the furnace and is
mixed with slag, while another type is fly ash which comes from the stacks and
contains component that are hazardous (Zafar, 2008). Furthermore, the emissions
from incineration also a problem as it contain heavy metals, dioxins and furan which
may be present in the waste gases, water or ash. Other than that, if types of plastic
such as PVC are also being incinerated can cause the rise of highly of toxic
pollutants. Therefore, these produced pollutants can only be solved by disposing to
special landfills or use for energy recovery but these only can be done by using heat
exchanger operating at high temperature to maximize the dioxin production (Zafar,
2008).
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Waste to Energy
Secondly, the issues around the usage of incineration to manage MSW are the
human health concerns. As mention above incineration end product which produce
dioxins and acid gases not only cause environmental effects but also can be
detrimental to human health. Dioxins are the most lethal Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POPs) that may cause cancer and neurological damage, and disrupt
reproductive systems, thyroid systems and respiratory system (Nordqvist, 2017).
The chemically complex MSW, the incinerator system does not adequately control
the emission produce from the burning of waste. The people may expose in several
ways by breathing the air which effects worker and people near the plant. Besides
that, consume from source of food and that food produced that have been
contaminated by air pollutants from incinerator (Zafar, 2008).
Last but not least, in terms of economic and financial investment, incinerator is
costly as the capital cost needed to start up new facilities are around the range of
average $200 000 per daily ton of capacity as compared to other waste
management method such as landfill or recycling (Eco-Cycle, 2011). Moreover,
waste incinerators are hand down the most expensive technology to build, operate
and to generate electricity compared the other energy sources such as wind, solar,
natural gas coal and even nuclear power as based on the 2010 report published by
(U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 2010)
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Waste to Energy
2.2 PROPOSAL OF EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS
As stated in the previous section, the main problem that still lies in incineration
based technologies is environmental issue. This is mainly because of the production
of ash and dioxin emission at the end of the incineration process. To solve this
problem, an effective solution will be the use of wet scrubber. A wet scrubber
system is one type of scrubber that is used to remove harmful particulate material
from industrial exhaust gases known as flue gas by capturing them in liquid droplets,
with the liquid either dissolved or absorbed in the pollutant gases before they are
released into the environment (Fisher-Klosterman, 2018). By using wet scrubber, the
issues around the usage of incineration to manage MSW which concerning the
human health also can be managed by producing the amount of better pollutant to
the surrounding (National Academy of Sciences, 2000)
When using a wet scrubber, flue gas is channel through an area and sprayed
with water to remove dust and particulate matter. In addition, other chemicals can
also be added .These chemicals are chosen to specifically react with certain
airborne contaminants—generally acidic gases. This process adds significant
amounts of vapour to the exhaust—which causes the release of exhaust that
appears as white smoke when vented (Y.M. Fahmy et al, 2007).
The advantage of using wet scrubber is that first and foremost, they can prevent
a wide range of pollutants from entering the air through exhaust gases with the
additional benefit such these scrubbers are fairly sturdy and withstand at a high
temperature, making them an absolute ideal to be used in operation in almost any
environment (Y.M. Fahmy et al, 2007).Besides that, wet scrubber is a good air
pollution control system because of its ability to collect both gase and particulate
matter with no secondary dust source emit once the particulate matter is
capture.Moreover, it can reduce temperature and volume of unsaturated exhaust
gas by requiring small space.With scrubber smaller in size, it will effect the capital
cost and the flexibility of the scrubber in operation (Wikipedia Inc)
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Waste to Energy
Furthermore, another effective way to treat the problem from generated ash that
is produce during the process of incineration can be solved by starting to change
from using coal to biofuel. This is because t d ’s sd w s
consist mainly of slag, ash and gypsum causing from the coal based energy
generation is hazardous and harmful to the environment. According to the
Government Energy Action Plan, to treat this problem, coal will be no longer in sight
and be replaced with renewable energy and natural gas, including biofuel.
Therefore, this methods will developed to recycle bio ash in an environment friendly
way.
In addition, the quality of the residues slag, and flue gas treatment waste can be
improved as more environmentally harmful types of waste, such as PVC and
impregnated wood, are treated separately. In 1997, 82% of slag was recycled in
building and construction works. In future, greater attention will be paid to
environmental aspects related to slag and ash recycling.
Last but not least, in regarding to reduce the incinerator capital cost needed to
start up new facilities, there is still no viable option. To have an economically viable
operation, it is required to have an incinerator that burns at least 1000 tonnes of
garbage each day. The cost to build such a facility is approximately $100 million.
Besides that, the operating costs to maintain the equipment, especially the pollution
control equipment is also high. Furthermore, to treat the fly ash, it will require a
special hazardous waste landfill as the regular municipal landfill is not suitable for
dangerous substance.Plus; to build a special hazardous waste landfill is almost ten
times costlier than a municipal landfill. Therefore, all of this factor will affected the
cost of municipal waste incineration to shoots up due to this entire requirement
(Zafar, 2008).
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Waste to Energy
3. PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM

3.1 PFD OF PROPOSED THERMAL CONVERSION SYSTEM
Produce Heat and Electricity
GRID
STEAM TURBINE
STEAM
CONDENSER CONDENSER TANK
MIXED MSW SORTED MSW

FLUE GAS
DEAERATOR
PUMP
MRF WASTE PIT COMBUSTION
CHAMBER SOLID FUEL BOILER
Water vapor & Clean Flue Gas
WET SCRUBBER
FILTER
GAS STACK
Ash to Landfill/ Use for

Construction
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Waste to Energy
3.2 PROCESS EQUIPMENT DETAILS
3.2.1 Material Recovery Facility
Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) can be defined as where the solid wastes
are delivered to be sorted, processed and stored for later use as raw materials for
remanufacturing and reprocessing (Dubanowitz, 2000). In this case, MRF is being
installed before going through the thermal processing of waste (incineration)
because not all materials could enter the thermal process due to many purposes. In
Denmark, before incineration process, MRF has been done to separate MSW from
household sector which contains organic waste, mixed residual waste, papers
including newsprint and packaging paper, cardboard, packaging glass, glass,
packaging wood, wood, packaging plastics, plastics, packaging metals, ferrous and
non-ferrous metals, electronics, batteries, garden waste, tires, impregnated woods,
PVC, plaster and other waste.
Typically, MRF can be characterized into two types which consist of clean MRF
and dirty MRF. For this case study, a clean MRF was chosen in the operation.
Generally, clean MRF is a low-technology MRF where virtually all sorting is done by
hand (plants may have a magnet extraction unit to remove steel cans). This
approach has a low capital cost, but high labor costs. The potential advantage of the
low technology approach is that it is much easier to respond to changes in market
conditions. For example, hand pickers can be instructed to sort alternative
materials, whereas equipment designed for one purpose cannot easily be modified
(Rome et al , 2002)
Besides that, the Portsmouth MRF, a type of clean MRF that are commonly used
in United Kingdom are going to be used in Denmark to sort all waste before going
into incinerator. Basically, Portsmouth MRF is designed to handle mixed paper,
metal and plastic and the operation will begin from the tipping of material into a
reception area and a preliminary manual sort removes cardboard, plastic carrier
bags and any unwanted material (Rome et al , 2002).
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Waste to Energy
Then a conveyor will carry the materials to a screen where small items (<50 mm
material) are removed for disposal. Material leaving the screen is divided into two
streams, which pass across inclined vibrating belts, where the bouncing motion
separates bottles and cans from flatter items like paper. The cans/bottles go to a
magnetic separator where steel cans are recovered, and the remaining plastic/
aluminium material goes to a manual picking area where plastics are sorted by
polymer type. The paper stream goes to a separate picking station where it is hand
sorted into newspapers and magazines, and mixed paper grades. This plant
processing its full design capacity of 42,000 tons per year of curbside collected
material (Rome et al , 2002).
3.2.2 Waste Pit
The waste is delivered at the waste reception, where it enters the waste pit. The
waste pit area should be covered or semi-covered both to prevent windblown waste
and to keep the working area dry the combustion zone. This is achieved by drawing
the primary and secondary air needed for combustion from the refuse storage pit.
Unpleasant odors from the plant are thereby reduced to an absolute minimum.
A waste pit is designed according to waste generation rates and the operating
conditions of the plant. By experience, the following requirements determine the
volume. The incineration plant is normally operated 24 hours a day, but waste is
delivered to the plant only during certain times and on certain days (Haukohl, 2013).
The waste pit must therefore be designed to receive at least the amount of waste
needed for continuous operation over a defined period of time which will be at least
3 days to allow for weekends and public holidays such as Christmas, as well as for
industrial disputes. An alternative disposal site for waste must be arranged for
emergency situations such as an unscheduled shut-down of the plant or protracted
industrial dispute, when the plant may not be operating for a long period. There must
be sufficient capacity to enable the agreed quantity of waste to be received even
with one processing/combustion line out of operation for a week.
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3.2.3 Combustion Chamber
Combustion is a rapid, exothermic reaction between a fuel and oxygen (O 2). In

incineration applications, the fuel is predominately waste (although fossil fuels may
be co-fired) and the oxygen source is air. Combustion produces many of the same
stable end products, whether the material burned is natural gas, coal, wood,
gasoline, municipal solid waste, hazardous waste, or medical waste. The flame zone
of a well-designed incinerator is sufficiently hot to break down all organic and many
inorganic molecules, allowing reactions between most volatile components of the
waste and the oxygen and nitrogen (N2) in air. The predominant reactions are
between carbon (C) and oxygen, producing carbon dioxide (CO2), and between
hydrogen (H) and oxygen, producing water vapour (H2O). Incomplete combustion of
organic compounds in the waste feed stream produces some carbon monoxide (CO)
and carbon-containing particles. Hydrogen also reacts with organically-bound
chlorine to produce hydrogen chloride (HCl). In addition, many other reactions occur,
producing sulfur oxides (SOx) from sulfur compounds, nitrogen oxides (NOx) from
nitrogen compounds (and, a little, from the nitrogen in the air), metal oxides from
compounds of some metals, and metal vapours from compounds of others (National
Academy of Sciences, 2000).
The furnace is designed to produce good mixing of the combustion air and the
gases and vapours coming from the burning waste. Nevertheless, in parts of the
furnace where combustion is not complete (for example, near the walls of the
furnace), combustible components of organic compounds are burned off, leaving the
incombustible particulate matter known as fly ash entrained in the flue gas. The
incombustible portion of the waste (known as bottom ash) is left behind.
Incineration facilities incorporate a number of general methods for ensuring

proper combustion and reducing emissions. A steady situation with no major
fluctuations in the waste-feed supply rate, combustion-air flows, or other incineration
conditions promotes efficient combustion. Inefficient combustion can result in higher
levels of products of incomplete combustion. Similarly, the more often a facility is
started up and shut down (for maintenance or because of inadequate or varying
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waste stream volume), the more uneven the combustion and the greater the
potential for increased emissions.
Optimal design and operation of a furnace requires attention to incineration

temperature, turbulence of the gas mixture being combusted, and gas-residence
time at the incineration temperature. To achieve efficient combustion, every part of
the gas stream must reach an adequately high temperature for a sufficient period of
time, and there must be adequate mixture of fuel and oxygen.
The temperature achieved is the result of heat released by the oxidation process,
and has to be maintained high enough to ensure that combustion goes to
completion, but not so high as to damage equipment or generate excessive nitrogen
oxides. Typically, temperatures are controlled by limiting the amount of material
charged to the furnace to ensure that the heat-release rate is in the desired range,
and then tempering the resulting conditions by varying the amount of excess air.
Turbulence is needed to provide adequate contact between the combustible

gases and oxygen across the combustion chamber (macro scale mixing) and at the
molecular level (micro scale mixing). Proper operation is indicated when there is
sufficient oxygen present in the furnace, and the gases are highly mixed. Cool spots
can occur next to the furnace's walls; where heat is first extracted from the
combustion process. Such cool spots on walls are more substantial in water wall
furnaces than in refractory-lined furnaces.
A number of new design features and operating techniques have been adopted
to increase temperature, extend residence time, and increase turbulence in waste
incinerators in order to improve combustion efficiency and provide other benefits like
improved ash quality. They include high-efficiency burner systems, waste-pre-
treatment practices such as shredding and blending, and oxygen enrichment in
addition to the features and methods discussed below. Considerable attention has
also been given to measurement and control of key process operating conditions to
allow better control of the whole combustion process.
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Waste to Energy
For complete combustion to occur, the incinerator is installed with air-injection

system. Air must be injected into the furnace in at least two locations: under the
grate that carries burning waste (primary or under fire air) and above the grate to
mix additional oxygen with the combustion gases (secondary or over-fire air).
Additional controls have been provided in modern municipal solid-waste incinerators
to better regulate both the under-fire air at various points on the grate, depending
upon burning conditions, and the over-fire air in response to temperature and heat
transfer taking place in the furnace. In such advanced systems, primary air is
injected into the drying, burning, and burnout zones of the grate, with a separate
system for secondary air. Control may be affected by manual or automatic
adjustments to dampers. The latter method is preferred, because it allows for
automatic control loops with continuous monitoring devices. The temperature and
oxygen needs of the furnace can be controlled by adjusting the quantity of primary
and secondary air entering the furnace. In plants built before the middle 1980s,
particularly those with holes in the furnace walls, the entry of primary and secondary
air is not as well controlled, and the excess-air rates required for adequate
combustion can be several times the amount that would be required with a more
modern design. This can result in larger volumes of flue gas to be treated for
contaminant removal, and reduce efficiency of utilization of the exhaust heat. (
National Research Council (US) Commitee, 2000)
3.2.4 Flue Gas Clean-Up
Flue gas cleanup often requires the removal of SOx, NOx, and CO2 in separate
units before being emitted into the atmosphere. This stepwise treatment process
incurs significant cost and energy penalty to the electricity production. A combined
adsorption process based on pressure swing adsorption (PSA) by which these
impurities are removed is envisioned as an efficient means of flue gas cleanup that
can be applied relatively easily. In this study, the technological and economic
feasibilities of a combined separation process in which SO x, NOx, and CO2 are
simultaneously removed from flue gas streams are assessed. Capital and operating
costs are estimated based on sizing the equipment items and utilities needed, and
the potentials for increased energy efficiency are determined in relation to the
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required PSA performance. The energy saving potential for the adoption of 2-bed
and 4-bed PSA cycles is compared with conventional FGD, SCR, and amine
scrubbing units needed to clean up flue gas in a stepwise fashion. The results show
that energy savings can be expected when the PSA removal efficiency is greater
than 90%. In the case of a 550 MW coal-fired power plant, the proposed system will
impose an energy penalty of 24% to the cost of electricity, which is lower than that of
current individual treatment units associated with SOx, NOx, and CO2 removal. This
energy penalty corresponds to a cleanup cost of $57/ton of all impurities captured
for a 2-bed, four-step PSA process with a cycle time of 400 s, adsorption and
desorption pressures of 10 and 1 bar, respectively, and a purge flow rate of 100
mol/s. This techno-economic assessment shows that the integrated combined
system can be an attractive technology compared to multi-step systems for the
removal of flue gas impurities. (Amit Hajari et al, 2017)
3.2.5 Steam Turbine Generator
A steam turbine generator works by heating water to extremely high

temperatures until it is converted into steam, then the steam energy is used to rotate
the blades of a turbine to create mechanical or rotational energy. This rotational
energy caused by the high pressured steam turbine is used to generate electricity
from an attached generator. The generator is attached to the steam turbine by a
rotating shaft. As the steam turbine spins, the generator spins and creates
electricity.Incineration is a high-quality treatment for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW),
very useful in big or crowded cities, because it reduces the quantity and volume of
waste to be land filled. It can be localized in an urbanized zone, and offers the
opportunity of recovering energy. The energy generation option selected for an
incineration facility will depend on the potential for end users to utilize the heat or
power available (Turbinegenerator.org, 2018).
The use of turbine generator combined the generation of heat and power
(electricity). This helps to increase the overall energy efficiency for a facility
compared to generating power only. In addition, electricity generated by the turbine
generator is connected with the steam pipe line from the incineration combustion
process.
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3.2.6 Solid Fuel Boiler
The main purpose of the solid fuel boiler is to exchange heat between the flue
gas and the water/steam circuit, thereby producing superheated steam for the
power- generating turbine.
The boiler and economizer have a water tube construction with heating surfaces
specially designed for waste gas operation. The boiler incorporates superheated and
economizer sections. Gas-side cleaning equipment is installed to prevent fouling
and ensure continuous operation.
In the boiler, the flue gas passes through different sections. Finally, the flue gas
enters the economizer where the gas temperature is reduced to about 160-180°C. In
the economizer the feed water is heated to saturation.
As the amount of electricity which can be produced by a certain quantity of steam

is very dependent on the output state - temperature and pressure - these are
important parameters in the design of a boiler. Increased steam temperatures can
create corrosion problems. Corrosion in incineration plant boilers is mainly caused
by the presence of chloride in the waste which during combustion is released as
HCI. High flue gas temperatures in combination with HCI may result in severe
corrosion if adequate protective measures are not taken.
3.2.7 Wet Scrubber
Dioxins are among the most toxic substances known to man, and they can be
formed when incinerating waste. Accordingly, the authorities place extremely
stringent demands for low emissions. Wet scrubber is the common method used to
reduce the problem arise from the incineration process which is removal of dioxins
and mercury also other hazardous pollutant.The pollutants primarily originate from
the waste, but chemical formations are influenced by the combustion process where
oxygen is added at high temperature. Consequently, pollutants such as NOx, CO,
dioxins etc. are present in the flue gas. In Denmark, wet scrubber is the most
common method used to control the air pollution released to atmosphere.
19
Waste to Energy
In wet scrubbing processes, liquid or solid particles are removed from a gas
stream by transferring them to a liquid. The liquid most commonly used is water. A
wet scrubber's particulate collection efficiency is directly related to the amount of
energy expended in contacting the gas stream with the scrubber liquid. Most wet
scrubbing systems operate with particulate collection efficiencies over 95 percent.
Wet scrubbers can also be used to remove acid gas; however, this section
addresses only wet scrubbers for control of particulate matter.
There are three energy usage levels for wet scrubbers. A low energy wet
scrubber utilizes pressure drops less than 5 inches of water column and are capable
of efficiently removing particles greater than about 5-10 micrometers in diameter. A
medium energy scrubber has a pressure drop from 5 to 25 inches of water column
and is capable of removing micrometer-sized particles, but is not very efficient on
sub-micrometer particles. A high energy scrubber expends the most energy and has
a pressure drop of 25 to over 100 inches of water column, which is necessary to
remove sub-micrometer particles (B&W Volund, 2011).
A spray tower scrubber is a low energy scrubber and is the simplest wet scrubber
used for particulate control. It consists of an open vessel with one or more sets of
spray nozzles to distribute the scrubbing liquid. Typically, the gas stream enters at
the bottom and passes upward through the sprays. The particles are collected when
they impact the droplets. This is referred to as counter-current operation. Spray
towers can also be operated in a cross-current arrangement. In cross-current
scrubbers, the gas flow is horizontal and the liquid sprays flow downward. Cross-
current spray towers are not usually as efficient as counter-current units.
3.2.8 Gas Sack
This is where the non-hazardous pollutant released after processing the pollutant
in the scrubber and filters to atmosphere and does not pollute the environment or
causing any health problem to the human being.
20
Waste to Energy
4. WASTE GENERATION IN DENMARK

4.1 WASTE STATISTIC
Total household waste arising in Denmark for 2015 according to report publish by
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency stated at approximately at 3 530 000
million tons per year . Household waste which mainly come from the residential ,
non residential and residential institution are sorted and separated into each specific
of waste like as shown in Figure 1. In addition, the amount of waste fraction (1000
tones) of each specific waste is shown in the Table 1.
Figure 1 Household Waste Fraction 2015
21
Waste to Energy
Table 1 Household Waste Fraction 2015
Tonnes (1000)
Household
Mixed residual waste 1374
Waste suitable for incineration 399
Organic waste 39
Paper inc newsprint and packaging paper 192
Packaging cardboard and other cardboard 55
Packaging glass 111

Glass 19
Packaging wood 7
Wood 165
Packaging plastics 18
Plastics 15
Packaging metal 9
Ferrous and non-ferrous metals 131
Electronics 42
Refrigerators containing Freon 12
Batteries 4
Garden waste 668
Tyres 7
Impregnated wood 17
PVC 2
Plaster 1
Waste suitable for landfill 37
Residues from incineration -
Other wastes 32
Total 3353
22
Waste to Energy
4.2 EVALUATION OF ENERGY AND EFFICIENCY
4.2.1 Waste that are suitable for incineration
From the total amount of household waste which are at 3 530 00 million
tones/year, only 1 129 000 million ton/year are suitable for incineration in the year of
2015. All of it consists of cupboard, garden waste, tyres, packaging plastic, plastic,
PVC, Mixed paper and mixed wood like as shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Waste that suitable for incineration
COMPONENT WEIGHT (ton/year)
Cupboard 55000
Garden Waste 668000
Tyres 7000
Packaging Plastic 18000
Plastic 15000
PVC 2000
Paper (mixed) 192000
Wood (mixed) 172000
TOTAL 1,129.000
23
Waste to Energy
4.2.2 Calculation of Dry basis and energy content of each waste
First calculate the dry weight basis; it is given by formula below:
= – ).
Second, calculate the total weight and change it into lb/day:
The sample calculation of dry basis for cupboard is shown below:
The energy content of each specific waste are calculated using this formula:
24
Waste to Energy
Table 2 Dry basis for each specific of waste
MOISTURE DRY WEIGHT

COMPONENT WEIGHT (ton/year)
CONTENT (%) (lb/d)
Cupboard 55000 5 286301.37
Garden Waste 668000 60 1464109.59
Tyres 7000 1.2 37895.89
Packaging Plastic 18000 20

78904.11
Plastic 15000 20 65753.4
PVC 2000 20 8767.12
Paper (mixed) 192000 10.2 944745.2
Wood (mixed) 172000 20 753972.6
TOTAL 1,129.000 3,640,449.28
25
Waste to Energy
Table 3 Energy Content for each specific of waste
DRY WEIGHT
COMPONENT ENERGY (Btu/lb) TOTAL ENERGY (Btu/d)
(lb/d)
Cupboard 286301.37 7428 21266465576
Garden 1464109.59 6503 9521104664

Waste
Tyres 37895.89 11022 417688
Packaging 18724 1477400556

Plastic 78904.11
Plastic 65753.4 14390 946191426
PVC 8767.12 9774 85689830.88
Paper 944745.2 7571 6270036142

(mixed)
Wood 753972.6 8316 7152665909

(mixed)
TOTAL 3,640,449.28 2.76E+10
26
Waste to Energy
4.2.2 Computation of energy output and efficiency
The amount of energy produced from the solid waste energy conversion system
with a capacity of 1000 ton/day was estimated. The system consists of a MSW
combustor with solid fuel boiler-steam turbine-electric generator the heat rate and
overall efficiency also calculated.
steam turbine
solid fuel electric
- generator
boiler generator
system
First, set up the computational table to determine the energy output by using
data reported in Table 13-12 (Tchobanoglous et al, 1993). The computational value
shown in Table 4.
Second, the heat rate for the proposed plant was determined by using the
Equation (13-12) (Tchobanoglous et al, 1993).
Third, determine the overall efficiency.
27
Waste to Energy
Table 4 Computation of energy output
ITEM VALUE
Gross Energy available in MSW
Steam Energy available from Solid Fuel

Boiler
Mechanical Energy available from Steam

Turbine
Gross Electrical available from Steam

Turbine, kW
Station Service Allowance, kW
Unaccounted Heat Losses, kW
Net Electric Power available for export, kW
28
Waste to Energy
4.3 RECCOMENDATION
There are various residues that will go through the combustion process. The
incinerators also have their own functions such as reducing the amount of waste and
energy recovery. In fact, it is according to the specifications of the waste facility.
Based on the calculation above, the design is able to generate electric power of
63273.38 kW with the heat rate and the efficiency of 20407.25 Btu/kWh and 16.7%.
Therefore, to maintain the equipment used and improve an efficient strategy in a
combustion process, there are some considerations that must be followed:
4.3.1 Temperature Controlled
Since the boiler is often used in the combustion process, it has a potential to
produce corrosion. Therefore, the precaution in reducing the corrosion is by
increasing the temperature of feed water to its appropriate range (National Research
Council, 2000). This is because the boiler should have a high temperature. As the
feed water temperature increase, the oxygen content in combustion process
decrease. The boiler also can be operated for a long period.
4.3.2 Hazardous waste controlled
As the hazardous waste generated, the generator can handle the waste on the
site or remove it for treatment, disposal or recycling. This is because many types of
hazardous waste are fed into the incinerators, boilers and furnaces (National
Research Council, 2000). The waste is also often difficult to handle due to its
characteristics. However, pre-treatment is desirable to facilitate the residue before
through the combustor and the scrubber also have been installed to treat polluted
flue gases by chemical reaction before leaving the air sack.
29
Waste to Energy
4.3.3 Energy Recovery
Plastic is one of the components that can increase the rate of combustion.
Scientist from Columbia University found that if non-recycled plastic paper has been
transformed to produce energy, it will turn out to power to about 5.7 million homes. If
all waste of municipal is converted into energy, it may produce a power of about 14
million homes (Plastics Make it Possible®, 2016). Thus, the percentage of plastic
waste that can generate energy to households is about 41%. So, the non-recycled
plastic will increase the energy efficiency.
4.3.4 Methods
Common methods used such as recycling, composting, reuse, and reduction

have reduced the amount of waste for disposal and are considered to be better in
terms of environment. Likewise, for products made directly from raw materials, the
use of smaller raw materials is expected to reduce the environmental impact. This is
to reduce the quantity of material that needs to be burned. Hence, this leads to
reducing the amount of toxic substances that can be released into the environment,
from incineration discharge or landfill disposal.
4.3.5 Other Processes
Another recommendation is to use the process of pyrolysis as compared to

combustion. It also can reduce the cost of boiler. This process does not require
oxygen. Hence, by using this process, there is no presence of oxygen and the boiler
will not be used to reduce the oxygen content.
30
Waste to Energy
5. CONCLUSIONS
Waste to Energy technologies has one potential approach in the future as one of
the alternatives to treat and utilized waste to provide a renewable energy in a world
with limited fossil reserves. Thermal energy conversion technology which is mass
fired combustion or also known as incineration is the best established method that
could reduce the problems associated with abundant of solid waste generation
transforming into energy and the energy recovery solution to municipal solid waste.
Nevertheless, there are a still few issues that related to this alternative method.
Due to the production of ash at the end of the incineration process and emission of
hazardous materials such as dioxin, furan and many more, this method still can be
improved by taking into the consideration of APC system such as wet scrubber, or
changing the based coal technology by using alternative energy such as bio fuel as
to treat all the ash and dioxin in an environmental friendly way.
Plus we also need to take consider and know on how much the energy can be
produced by using thermal conversion technology. According to the calculation of
energy from the total municipal solid waste that is suitable for incineration which is
around, 1,129,000 ton/year, the total energy produced is 2.76E+10 Btu/d.
Furthermore, from the computational energy output and efficiency for MSW
combustor which consist of solid fuel boiler-steam turbine-electric generator, the
total gross energy from MSW ,steam energy from Solid Fuel Boiler, mechanical
energy available from Steam Turbine, gross electrical available from Steam Turbine,
Station Service Allowance, Unaccounted Heat Losses, and Unaccounted Heat
Losses are approximately at 1.1492 9 btu/h, 8.2740 8 btu/h, 2.3995 8 btu/h,
63273.38 , 3796.40 , 3163.31 , 56313.31 and 16.7% efficiency
respectively.
Therefore, it can be concluded that by using incineration technology, it can

change the solid waste to form sustainable energy suitable for high calorific value
waste and pathological waste into an energy that can be use for everyone such as
for heating, electricity or even for transport.
31
Waste to Energy
Works Cited
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and CO2. Energy & Fuels, 31 (4). doi:0.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b02881
B&W Volund. (2011, july 1). dioxin removal . Retrieved from dioxin removal:
http://www.gmab.se/dioxin-removal/
Basu, R. (2009). Solid Waste Management-A model study . Sies Journal of Management, 20-24.
DEFRA. (2007). Advanced Thermal Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste. United Kingdom: DEFRA Inc.
DEFRA. (2011). Business Waste Prevention Evidence Review. Retrieved from

http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Modeule=More&Location=None&Compl
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Djikema, G. R. (2000). A new paradigm for waste management. Waste Management, 633-638.
Dubanowitz, A. J. (2000). Design of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). Department of Earth and
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Eco-Cycle.
ecoprog. (2016). Waste to Energy 2016/2017. Germany: ecoprog GmbH.
Fisher-Klosterman, C. H.-D. (2018, March 8). CECO Enviromental Corporation. Retrieved from
https://www.cecoenviro.com/blog/what-is-a-wet-scrubber
George Tchobanoglous, H. T. (1993). Integrated Solid Waste Management. (B. C. Morriss, Ed.) California:
McGraw-Hill International Editions.
Haukohl, M. j. (2013). waste incineration. waste incineration, 28.
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www.seas.columbia.edu/earth/papers/global_waste_to_energy.html
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National Academy of Sciences. (2000). waste incineration and public health. Retrieved from waste
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National Research Council. (2000). Incineration Process and Environmental Releases. In Waste
Incineration and Public Health (p. 34). Washington, Dc: The National Academies Press.
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/
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Waste to Energy
APPENDICES
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UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA CAWANGAN PULAU PINANG

KAMPUS PERMATANG PAUH

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AND AIR POLLUTION CONTROL

FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

ENERGY CONVERSION FROM SOLID WASTE VIA THERMAL CONVERSION IN

SIR MUHAMMAD ZAHIRUDDIN BIN RAMLI

GROUP: PEH2245C1/C2 (GROUP 3)

PUTERI NURHAYANI BINTI ASMADI 2017824856

NUR IFFAH NABIHAH MUHAMMAD ANUAR 2017446462

MOHAMAD YUSUF BIN DARMAN 2017485336

1.1 WASTES TO ENERGY

Naturally, waste is an inevitable product of society and one of the greatest

Therefore, Waste to Energy technologies can be seen as potential approach in

1.2 CASE STUDY REPORT OUTLINE

 Section 1: Introduction of WtE, selection of proper energy conversion

1.3 ENERGY CONVERSION PROCESS SELECTION & JUSTIFICATION

The reason why we choose incineration as the process is because firstly is to

Furthermore, incineration is also the most established process to generate

1.4 OVERVIEW OF THERMAL CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES

These technologies are generally grouped into two categories: conventional

Development in waste treatment to energy in which with advanced thermal

1.5 REACTION MECHANISM OF INCINERATION (COMBUSTION)

Incineration based technology of carbon-based materials in an o -

1)……………….C + O2 CO2 + 399.77J

In the case of lack of oxygen, the reaction will be characterized as an incomplete

3)……………….C + O2 +172.58J 2CO

2.1 INTRODUCTION OF THE ISSUES

The incineration based technologies, have being widely used as an established

2.2 PROPOSAL OF EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS

3. PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM

Produce Heat and Electricity

CONDENSER CONDENSER TANK

MIXED MSW SORTED MSW

Water vapor & Clean Flue Gas

Ash to Landfill/ Use for

3.2 PROCESS EQUIPMENT DETAILS

3.2.1 Material Recovery Facility

3.2.2 Waste Pit

3.2.3 Combustion Chamber

Combustion is a rapid, exothermic reaction between a fuel and oxygen (O 2). In

Incineration facilities incorporate a number of general methods for ensuring

Optimal design and operation of a furnace requires attention to incineration

Turbulence is needed to provide adequate contact between the combustible

For complete combustion to occur, the incinerator is installed with air-injection

3.2.4 Flue Gas Clean-Up

3.2.5 Steam Turbine Generator

A steam turbine generator works by heating water to extremely high

3.2.6 Solid Fuel Boiler

As the amount of electricity which can be produced by a certain quantity of steam

3.2.7 Wet Scrubber

3.2.8 Gas Sack

4. WASTE GENERATION IN DENMARK

Figure 1 Household Waste Fraction 2015

Table 1 Household Waste Fraction 2015

Mixed residual waste 1374

Waste suitable for incineration 399

Packaging cardboard and other cardboard 55

Packaging glass 111

4.2 EVALUATION OF ENERGY AND EFFICIENCY

4.2.1 Waste that are suitable for incineration

Table 2 Waste that suitable for incineration

COMPONENT WEIGHT (ton/year)

Garden Waste 668000

Packaging Plastic 18000