CHE 534: Environmental Engineering and Loss Prevention

Solid Waste Management

DR. (MRS) T.E OLADIMEJI

 Solid Waste
Waste is any material that is no longer needed or no longer useful to the
owner.
Classification of Solid waste
• Garbage: decomposable food wastes
• Rubbish: non-decomposable - paper, wood
• Ash: residue of combustion of solid fuels
• Large wastes: demolition, construction, trees
• Sewage-treatment solids: on screens or sludge
• Industrial wastes: chemicals, paints, sand
• Mining wastes: slag heaps, coal refuse piles
• Agricultural wastes: manure, crop residue
• Hazardous Wastes: toxic, flammable, radioactive
 Humans and Waste Generation
• Humans generate all wastes resulting from
improve life quality: food, housing, clothing
• careless disposal of waste
• Controlled: recycling, incineration, pyrolysis,
composting – waste management policy
Landfills
 Landfills
• Landfills: Cheapest , major cost is collection &
transportation
• Layered landfill is modern with lining
– Contaminate waters, gases explode, sorting
– Failed, landslide killing hundreds + other injuries
• Landfill is major disposal for MSW(municipal
solid waste) over 50% in EU
– Leaches into water system
– > BOD5,COD
 Incineration
• Refuse burnt on moving grates in refractory-lined
chambers
• Gases & solids in them carried to other chambers
• Combustibles 85 – 90 % complete
• Products : heat,CO2, H2O
– Oxides of sulphur, N2 and other gaseous pollutants
• Nongaseous products: Ash & unburned solids
• Fly ash & particulates controlled by
– electrostatic precipitators, wet scrubbers & bag filters
 Recycling
• Recycling solids waste is ancient
• Current recycling methods for MSW:
– Shredding, air classification, screening, magnetic
metals sepn., washing
• Increased laws to ensure recycling; recycle bins
• Demand for recyclables.
 Composting
• Waste sorted, non-compostibles removed, then grinded to inc eff.
of decomp. process
• Deposited in mechanical systems, biological degrading to 1-3% N2,
P, K in ~3 weeks
• Improvement with Biocell & Bio-stimulators
• Bio-stimulators: add high conc. of micro-organisms
– Improve biodiversity and soil stabliization
• Biocell: anaerobic cells with unsorted waste + liquids
– O2 limited, biogas produced used to power engines
– Process is controlled, sorting at end of process
 Zero Waste (ZW)
• Zero Waste - an alternate disposal technology
• wastes do not exist if process is well designed
• ZW flexible design concept, flexible policies
• Design for disassembly, Industrial Ecology, Cleaner Prodn. Public
Education, waste minimiz. & recovery at process end, etc.
• ZW became popular, Nigeria joined
– Est. Zero Waste Research Initiative (ZERI) at Abubaka
Tafawa Balewa Univ (ATBU), Bauchi
– Yet to make impact
 Waste-To-Energy (WTE)
• Energy from incinerators turned into steam
• Steam used for direct heating or to drive
turbines to produce electricity
• Europe treats 50 M waste yearly at WTE
plants to gen. power for 27 million pple.
– Mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) - better
fuel, current conversion efficiency from 20 to 40%
– environmental concerns: air emissions, fly ash,
disposal of non-conbustibles – regulations
• See Tables 2 & 3
 Conversion Technologies
• >100yrs of conversion of coal, pet. coke, wood
– Production of Synthesis gas (syngas):energy gen,
chemical manufacture
– Diff from WTE?, produces steam and/or electricity
• Conversion Technology: 3 stages
– Pre-processing, conversion unit, & energy or
chemical Production
• See Figure 1
Typical MSW Conversion Facility
 Thermal Conversion Technologies
Most common:
• Pyrolysis
• Conversion gasification (fixed or fluidized bed)
• Combined pyrolysis and gasification
• Plasma gasification
Pyrolysis
 Pyrolysis
• Carbon materials degraded @ 400-900oC in
absence of O2
• Volatiles produced – syngas, consist of H2 & CO
• Cleaned syngas to electricity (reciprocating engine
• Burnt in boiler for steam & power production
• Flue gas in emission control, char with ash
• Pyrolysis, incomplete combustion used in coal
processing 100yrs
Conventional Gasification
 Conventional Gasification
• Carbon materials heated @ 760-1650oC with
limited O2
• Here it is chemical process, not combustion
• Syngas produced for electricity, steam & power
production
• Char (pyrolysis) converted to syngas
• Inorganic end as ash (low T.) or glassy slag (high T)
• > 200 yrs, gasification of coal to “town gas” for
heating, cooking & lighting
 1. Combined Pyrolysis & Gasification
2. Plasma Gasification
• Pyrolysis in Fig 2 followed by gasification in Fig 3
• Carbon Char from pyrolysis to gasification
• More syngas is produced, higher conversion to syngas
from same MSW
Plasma gasification:
• plasma arc to 5500oC to heat MSW @ 1100 – 1650oC
• Syngas and metal slag, recover pure metals
• Used in steel process, treat MSW & auto shredded
residues (ASR)
• Most efficient electricity production than other two.
 Environmental Benefits of Conversion
Technologies (CT)
• Includes pre-processing to uniform feed, recover Cl2
• Syngas produced is cleaner than burning MSW
• CT: closed, pressurized systems reduce pollution
• Reducing atmosphere: no/reduced contaminants
• Syngas produced < flue gas in WTE?, cheaper to treat
• Pre-cleaning of syngas leads to recovery & sale
• Syngas from CT more homogenous & cleaner
burning fuel than MSW
• No CH4 produced compared to MSW in landfill
 Predicting Waste Generation & Accurate
Capacity Planning
• Capacity planning requires extensive metrics:
– Waste generation, waste densities, Moisture
contents, composition, types of waste
– Population, population density, population age
distribution, infant mortality, life expectancy
– Sectoral employment, GDP, Household size,
unemployment, overnight stays (tourism)

Rural – Urban Migration