MSW: History & Characterization

alappat@iitd.ac.in

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History of MSW Management in
India

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MSW Disposal – early model

Before 1970s – 1980s

MSW
(raw mixed)

City Boundary

Land-dump

Land-dumps outside the city boundaries 3

 MSW Management – early model

After 1980s-1990s

MSW
(raw mixed)

LFG (Landfill gas) Land-dump

Leachate City Boundary

Now land-dumps are within the city boundaries

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 MSW Management – Introduction of Treatment

MSW
(raw mixed) 1980s onwards

Windrow
Composting

Separation Rejects
Techniques

Green
Compost
Maturation

Ripe Compost Land-dumps

Low compost quality, not many takers

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 Raw MSW Incineration Plant

1987 – Timarpur, Delhi

MSW
(raw mixed)

Storage Pit

Flue gas to treatment units

WtE Plant
Heat for energy recovery

Bottom Ash & Fly ash Land-dump

This was a failure due to poor heat content 6

 MSW Management – Introduction of RDF*

MSW
1990s at Deonar, Bombay
(raw mixed)

Drying

Separation & Rejects

Shredding

Pelletization

Refuse Land-dumps
Derived Fuel

*Refuse Derived Fuel

Quality not guaranteed 7
Municipal Solid Waste (Handling
and Management) Rules, 2000
• Waste has to be processed before landfilling
• No more land-dumping, but engineered landfills

Compost plants continued

RDF plants continued
Land-dumping / landfilling continued
New addition: Raw mixed MSW Incineration (Mass Burning)
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 MSW Incineration Plant (Raw Waste Combustion)

2010 onwards
MSW
(raw mixed)

Manual Rejects
Moisture and Pre-sorting
Gaseous loss

Storage Pit
(5 day storage)

Flue gas to treatment units

WtE Plant
Heat for energy recovery

Bottom Ash & Fly ash Sanitary Landfill

Much public protest and agitations 9

• Technologies competed each other to treat
the raw mixed MSW

• Poor quality compost (only few takers)

• Poor quality RDF (not a standard product, difficult for co-firing)
• Low performance of Incineration facilities

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Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016
• segregate right at source – 3 container system
» Biodegradables (wet) Green
» Recyclables (Dry) White
» Domestic hazardous Black
• Biodegradable components for composting / bio-
methanation / bio-processing (preferably decentralized)
• Dry waste goes for sorting and separation
• Combustible components go for Incineration /
Pyrolysis / RDF manufacturing
• RDF can be incinerated or co-combusted

TREATMENT TECHNIQUES BECOME COMPLIMENTARY

However, MIXED WASTE IS THE REALITY
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• Waste segregation at the source is the key
of proper management
• But it is not happening in most of the cities
• Then municipality is trying to do that

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• Raw mixed waste  separators  
 organic components  composting / bio-
methanation
 burnable components  RDF / Incineration
 ferrous metals  recycling
non-ferrous metals
Glass  recycling
inerts  construction / filling / covering material
What remains  landfill

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 MSW Integrated Processing
MSW
(raw mixed) 2016 onwards
Moisture and
Storage Pit
Gaseous loss

Magnetic Separator Fe metal (few kgs)

SCF or RDF (+100 mm)

Ballistic Separator Rejects (+100 mm)
Shredder 100 mm sieve

0-100 mm
< 80 mm
SCF or RDF (10-100 mm) Ballistic Separator Rejects (10-100 mm)
10 mm sieve

0-10 mm

Moisture loss Windrow composting

0-4 mm Rejects (4-10 mm)

Compost Screening at 4 mm

Bottom Ash & Fly ash Sanitary Landfill

WtE Plant

Energy Flue gas 14

 Analysis of MSW
• Component analysis or Composition
• Ultimate and Proximate analysis
• Heat Content on wet basis, dry basis, etc
• Specific Heat
• Air required for burning 1 kg of MSW at Stoichiometry
• Flue gas generated while burning 1 kg of MSW at
Stoichiometry
• Combustion temperature for no auxiliary fuel supplied
• Bottom ash and fly ash / ton of MSW burnt
• C/N
• Air required for composting / ton of MSW
• Methane generated in anaerobic composting / ton of MSW
• INCINERABILITY COMPOSTABILITY
Heat Content of raw mixed: ~ 1300 kcal/kg (2400-3000
kcal/kg)

Bulk density: ~ 200-350 kg/m3 (100-200 kg/m3)

% of bio-degradables: ~35-50% (0-10%)

% inert content: ~ 25-40% (0-10%)

% moisture: ~ 30 – 60% (5-15%)

% plastics: 4-8% ( 10-20%)

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 Sampling of MSW
Sample size: 10kg x 10 numbers = 100kg

How many samples : use statistical methods.

For practical purpose: 12 samples from an area of similar

nature.

Sampling in summer, rainy season and winter.

Mention year of sampling.

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 Thermal Characterization of
Waste
• Laboratory analysis

• Theoretical estimation
 Based on the component analysis

• Carry out the proximate and ultimate

analysis and heat content for individual
components
• Add up to get the properties of the Mixed
MSW.
• Liberty to estimate the properties the way
we want to treat the waste
 Analysis of MSW

Kaiser, E.R. (1966). Chemical Analyses of Refuse Components, Department of Chemical Engineering, New York University, New York.

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 Analysis of MSW
• Component analysis:
• Based on the various components like paper, glass,
leather, biodegradables, plastics, etc
• Proximate Analysis:
• % Volatiles, % water Content and % Inerts
• Total makes 100%
• Ultimate Analysis:
• % C, %H, %O, %N, %S and % inerts

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2000 MSW Composition in US

3%
12% Paper and Paperboard
Glass
Metals
37%
11% Plastics
Rubber and Leather
Textiles
5% Wood
Food
4%
Yard Trash
3% 6% Other
8%
11%

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Aizwal (year)
COMPONENT ANALYSIS

Biodegradable

23%

Paper

38%

Plastics
2%

4%
Metals

14% Glass & ceramics

19% Inert, ash and

debris

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Ultimate and Proximate Analysis

Moisture

Non-combustibles Non-combustibles
Inerts Inerts
As
S discarded
or
N
Dry as
H Volatile Weight received

O Matter

Ultimate Proximate 24
 Characterization of Waste
• Laboratory analysis:
• Bomb calorimeter
• CHNS analyzer
• Ovens and furnaces

• Theoretical estimation

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 Calculation of Heat Content,
Moisture Content, Ash Content
Material Moist. Heat Content*
Paper 4-10 % 5000-8000 BTU/lb
Plastics 1-4 12000-16000
Textiles 6-15 6500-8000
Rubber 1-4 9000-12000
Leather 8-12 6500-8500
Food 50-80 1500-3000
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Wood 15-40 1000-8000 Btu/lb
Glass 1-4 50-100
Tins 2-4 100-500
Metals 2-6 100-500
Non-ferrous 2-4 100-500
Dirts /ash 6-12 1000-5000

• % by weight (as discarded basis or as received

basis)

• 1 BTU = 252 Calories = 1055 Joules

• 1 kg = 2.204 lb
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 Ultimate Analysis of the
Components (dry weight) of MSW
components % C %H %O %N %S %inert
s
Paper 43.5 6 44 0.3 0.2 6
Cardboard 44 5.9 44.6 0.3 0.2 5
Plastics 60 7.2 22.8 - - 10
Food 48 6.4 37.6 2.6 0.4 5
wastes
Textiles 55 6.6 31.2 4.6 0.15 2.5
rubber 78 10 - 2 - 10
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Leather 60 8 11.6 10 0.4 10

Yard 47.8 6 38 3.4 0.3 4.5

wastes

Wood 49.5 6 42.7 0.2 0.1 1.5

% by weight (dry basis)

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Glass 0.5 0.1 0.4 <0.1 - 98.9
Tins 4.5 0.6 4.3 <0.1 - 90.5
Metals 4.5 0.6 4.3 <0.1 - 90.5

Non- 4.5 0.6 4.3 <0.1 - 90.5

ferrou
s
dirt / 26.3 3 2 0.5 0.2 68
soil/stone
s/ ash

% by weight (dry basis)

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 Suitability for Incineration – Rule of Thump

Autogenous
Incineration

Incineration possible
With auxiliary Fuel
Incineration
Is not 1300 kcal/kg 2400 kcal/kg
advisable

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Suitability for Incineration: Fuel
Triangle (Tanner Diagram)

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Perform ultimate and proximate analysis on the waste sample
given below.

Components Wt. as % Higher Heat

discarded Moistur Content
e ‘as discarded’
by Wt. basis

Paper 4.00 kg 7 % 6500 Btu/lb

Cardboard 8.00 kg 6 7000 Btu/lb

Glass 4.00 kg 3 75 Btu/lb

Plastics 1.00 kg 3 14 000 Btu/lb

Aluminium 3.00 kg 3 100

Ferrous Metals 8.00 kg 3 100

Food wastes 40.00 kg 52 2500

Dirt/ash 35.00 kg 8 1000

1 Btu = 252 Cal = 1055 J 1kg = 2.204 lb

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 Ultimate Analysis of the components of MSW (dry basis)

Componen %C %H %O %N %S % Inerts
ts
Paper 43.5 6 44 0.3 0.2 6

Cardboard 44 5.9 44.6 0.3 0.2 5

Glass 0.5 0.1 0.4 0.1 - 98.9

Plastics 60 7.2 22.8 - - 10

Aluminium 4.5 0.6 4.3 0.1 - 90.5

Ferrous 4.5 0.6 4.3 0.1 - 90.5

Metals
Food 48 6.4 37.6 2.6 0.4 5
wastes
Dirt / ash 26.3 3 2 0.5 0.2 68

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Components Wt. as % Dry weight Higher Heat Higher Heat
discarded Moisture kg Content Content
by Wt. ‘as discarded’ basis kJ

Paper 4.00 kg 7 % 3.72 6500 Btu/lb 60450

Cardboard 8.00 kg 6 7.52 7000 Btu/lb 130200

Glass 4.00 kg 3 3.88 75 Btu/lb 698

Plastics 1.00 kg 3 0.97 14 000 Btu/lb 32550

Aluminium 3.00 kg 3 2.91 100 698

Ferrous Metals 8.00 kg 3 7.76 100 1860

Food wastes 40.00 kg 52 19.2 2500 232500

Dirt 35.00 kg 8 32.2 1000 81375

TOTAL 103kg 78.16kg 540330 kJ

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Ultimate Analysis of the components of MSW (dry basis)
Components %C %H %O %N %S % Inerts

Paper 43.5 6 44 0.3 0.2 6

3.72 kg 1.62 0.22 1.64 0.01 0.007 0.22

Cardboard 44 5.9 44.6 0.3 0.2 5

7.52 kg 3.31 0.44 3.35 0.02 0.02 0.376

Glass 0.5 0.1 0.4 0.1 - 98.9

3.88 kg
Plastics 60 7.2 22.8 - - 10
0.97 kg
Aluminium 4.5 0.6 4.3 0.1 - 90.5
2.91 kg

Ferrous Metals 4.5 0.6 4.3 0.1 - 90.5

7.76 kg

Food wastes 48 6.4 37.6 2.6 0.4 5

19.2 kg

Dirt 26.3 3 2 0.5 0.2 68

32.2 kg

TOTAL 23.7 kg 3 kg 13.55 kg 0.705kg 0.167kg 37.05 kg

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PROXIMATE ANALYSIS

% Moisture : (103 – 78.16) / 103 * 100 = 24.12 %

% Inerts : 37.05 / 103 * 100 = 35.97 %

% Volatiles : 100 – (24.12 + 35.97) = 39.91 %

ULTIMATE ANALYSIS

Total dry matter = 78.16 kg

Carbon 23.7/78.16 *100 = 30.32 %

Hydrogen 3 / 78.16 * 100 = 3.84 %

Oxygen 13.55/78.16 * 100 = 17.34%

Nitrogen 0.705/78.16 * 100 = 0.90 %

Sulphur 0.167 /78.16 *100 = 0.214%

Inerts 37.05 / 78.16 *100 = 47.4 %

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Is this MSW directly incinerable ? If not, how can you make that incinerable ? To
what extent ?

Higher heat content as received = 540330 / 103 = 5246 kJ/kg of raw MSW

Thump rule :

Autogeneous combustion if heat content is above 2400 kCal/kg (10048 kJ/kg)

Incineration not recommended below 1500 kCal/kg (6280 kJ/kg)

This shows that the given raw MSW is not incinerable as such.

Now, let us try to make it incinerable by DRYING the RAW MSW

After drying, heat content = 540330 / 78.16 = 6913 kJ/kg of dry MSW

This shows that DRYING makes the given MSW incinerable with auxilliary fuel.

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However, for proper incineration, it is better to have a higher heat content.
Hence improve the heat content further by removing ferrous metals (possible
by using a magnetic separator) from the dry MSW.

Heat content after removing moisture and ferrous metals

= (540330 – 1860) / (78.16 – 7.76) = 7649 kJ/kg of dry MSW without

ferrous metals

Now incineration is possible with auxilliary fuel. To improve the heat

content further, use an air classifier instead of a magnetic separator. That is to
remove, all heavy materials (inerts / non-burnables) from the dry MSW.

Now, heat content after removing moisture and all inert materials

= (540330 – 84631) / (78.16 – 46.75) = 14508 kJ/kg

This is very good for incineration. You can burn this MSW without any
auxulliary fuel recovering heat for power generation. But remember, it is
costly as all inert materials are to be removed after drying the MSW.
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Generate a chemical formula to represent the volatile fraction of this MSW.

C H O N S

23.7kg 3kg 13.55 kg 0.705kg 0.167kg

Now divide by the respective atomic weights

23.7/12 3/1 13.55/16 0.705/14 0.167/32

C1.975 H3 O0.847 N0.05 S0.005

Keeping S = 1

C395 H600 O169.4 N10 S

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Assess whether the given MSW (as such) is suitable for composting.

For aerobic composting, the optimum C /N ratio is about 30 (between 26 to 31)

and % moisture 45 to 55%.

C /N ratio for the given MSW = (avaialable carbon) / (available nitrogen)

= ( ) / ( ) = ??

If C/N > the optimum, add any nitrogen source to bring the ratio down to the
optimum range. Eg. Slaughter house waste, fish scraps, urine, etc etc.

If C/N < optimum, add any carbon source.

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Calculate the total ash generated if the MSW is burnt @ 2000
tons /day.

Ash generated / kg of raw waste = (37.05 /103) kg = 0.36kg

= 360 kg / ton of raw MSW

Ash generated / day = 360 kg/ton * 2000 tons /day *1000

= 720 tons/day

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• Air required for burning 1 kg of MSW at
Stoichiometry
• Flue gas generated while burning 1 kg of
MSW at Stoichiometry
• Air required for composting / ton of MSW
• Methane generated in anaerobic composting
/ ton of MSW

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