Application of Technological Processes to Create a Unitary Model for Energy Recovery from Municipal Waste

Robert Sidełko
Additional contact information
Robert Sidełko: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Environmental and Geodetic Sciences, Koszalin University of Technology Poland, Śniadeckich St. 2, 75-453 Koszalin, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: The subject matter of this paper is the functioning of a highly effective waste management system. Assumptions of the Energy Recovery Waste Processing (ERWP) model, being a universal solution for towns and regions irrespective of their population, are presented here. The result of simulations illustrating the energetic potential of municipal waste stored and processed in biological and physicochemical processes are also presented. Calculations were performed for the municipality of Koszalin (Poland), with a population of 106,000. Mixed household and commercial waste, organic waste, waste from selective collection and sewage sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant were considered in the waste mass balance. Empirical equations and unit coefficients describing the energetic efficiency of particular processes originating from the author’s own research work as well as from the results available from the scientific literature were used in the calculations. The developed ERWP model is based on the functioning of four objects constituting a comprehensive technical infrastructure, i.e., biological stabilisation in air condition (BSAC), mechanical treatment plant (MTP), cogeneration system plant (CSP) and gas production plant (GPP) where two independent modules operate, namely, dry/wet methane fermentation (DMF and WMF). Each day, this system generates highly energetic refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for combustion in amounts of 82.2 t for CSP and 127.3 t for GPP, generating 5519 m 3 of gas/d. The value of the energy contained in such generated gas and in waste making up an alternative fuel is 1027.4 GJ, which is equivalent to 285.4 MWh. It should be noted that the creation of a waste management system based on the ERWP model assumptions fulfills the criteria of energetic recycling and allows for recovery of energy in the form of gas and heat equivalent to 79,917.6 MWh/a, i.e., 754 kWh/inhabitant/a.

Keywords: waste management; energy recovery; model of energy recovery; biogas; fermentation; combustion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/11/3118/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/11/3118/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:11:p:3118-:d:562986

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().