An Overview of Thermal Treatment Emissions with a Particular Focus on CO 2 Parameter

Deborah Panepinto (), Marco Ravina and Mariachiara Zanetti ()
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Deborah Panepinto: DIATI, Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Marco Ravina: DIATI, Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Mariachiara Zanetti: DIATI, Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-17

Abstract: Waste-to-energy (WtE) technologies can offer sustainable solutions for waste that cannot be further reused or recycled, such as the part of municipal solid waste (MSW) that is not suitable for recycling processes. The two main (most widely used) thermal treatment technologies that can be applied to MSW are direct combustion in an incineration plant and gasification. This paper examines in particular the direct combustion in incineration plants, explaining the main process, the main technologies applied, and the resulting environmental aspects. Moreover, this work focuses on analyzing flue gas emissions from thermal treatment in order to better understand the impacts of these kinds of processes. A particular focus on the CO 2 parameter is performed. CO 2 is a persistent atmospheric gas, and it is one of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) potentially responsible for the climate change phenomenon. In this sense, specific indexes (tCO 2 /tMSW and tCO 2 /MWh) are elaborated considering the thermal treatment plants present in six Italian regions. The main aim of this review paper is to try to fill the gap that still exists regarding the emissions environmental compatibility coming from these type of plants, the evaluation of the amount of CO 2 emitted, and the possible reduction of the CO 2 parameter. One of the main outcome obtained is in fact the evaluation of the amount of CO 2 coming from these kinds of plants and some indications about the technological possibilities of reducing this amount.

Keywords: MSW thermal treatment; incineration; gasification; flue gas emissions; CO 2 emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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