Towards Waste-to-Energy-and-Materials Processes with Advanced Thermochemical Combustion Intelligence in the Circular Economy

Johan De Greef, Quynh N. Hoang, Raf Vandevelde, Wouter Meynendonckx, Zouhir Bouchaar, Giuseppe Granata, Mathias Verbeke, Mariya Ishteva, Tine Seljak, Jo Van Caneghem and Maarten Vanierschot
Additional contact information
Johan De Greef: Department of Materials Engineering, Group T Campus, KU Leuven, A. Vesaliusstraat 13, BE-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Quynh N. Hoang: Department of Materials Engineering, Group T Campus, KU Leuven, A. Vesaliusstraat 13, BE-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Raf Vandevelde: Department of Materials Engineering, Group T Campus, KU Leuven, A. Vesaliusstraat 13, BE-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Wouter Meynendonckx: Department of Materials Engineering, Group T Campus, KU Leuven, A. Vesaliusstraat 13, BE-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Zouhir Bouchaar: Department of Materials Engineering, Group T Campus, KU Leuven, A. Vesaliusstraat 13, BE-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Giuseppe Granata: Department of Materials Engineering, Group T Campus, KU Leuven, A. Vesaliusstraat 13, BE-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Mathias Verbeke: Department of Computer Science, Bruges Campus, KU Leuven, Spoorwegstraat 12, BE-8200 Bruges, Belgium
Mariya Ishteva: Department of Computer Science, Geel Campus, KU Leuven, Kleinhoefstraat 4, BE-2440 Geel, Belgium
Tine Seljak: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Askerceva 6, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jo Van Caneghem: Department of Materials Engineering, Group T Campus, KU Leuven, A. Vesaliusstraat 13, BE-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Maarten Vanierschot: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Group T Campus, KU Leuven, A. Vesaliusstraat 13, BE-3000 Leuven, Belgium

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: Waste-to-energy processes remain essential to ensure the safe and irreversible removal of materials and substances that are (or have become) unsuitable for reuse or recycling, and hence, to keep intended cycles of materials in the circular economy clean. In this paper, the behavior of inorganic compounds in waste-to-energy combustion processes are discussed from a multi-disciplinary perspective, against a background of ever tightening emission limits and targets of increasing energy efficiency and materials recovery. This leads to the observation that, due to the typical complexity of thermally treated waste, the intelligence of combustion control systems used in state-of-the-art waste-to-energy plants needs to be expanded to better control the behavior of inorganic compounds that typically end up in waste furnaces. This paper further explains how this goal can be achieved by developing (experimentally validated) predictive numerical models that are engineering-based and/or data-driven. Additionally, the significant economic potential of advanced thermochemical intelligence towards inorganic compounds in waste-to-energy combustion control systems is estimated on the basis of typical operational figures.

Keywords: waste-to-energy; inorganic compounds; combustion control; numerical models; data-driven models; municipal solid waste; raw materials (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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