Waste

In 2005, waste incineration produced 4.8 % of the electricity consumption and 13.7 % of the total domestic heat consumption in Denmark. A number of other European countries rely heavily on incineration for handling municipal waste, in particular Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany and France.
 * Waste-to-energy**(Wte) is the process of creating energy in the form of electricity or heat from the incineration of waste source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes produce electricity directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels. Incineration generally entails burning garbage to boil water which powers steam generators that make electric energy to be used in our homes and businesses.




 * Typical Cost of Operation: $18 Million
 * Typical Floor Area: 19,000 Square metres
 * CO2 emission per year: 600,000,000 pounds
 * Waste volume reduction of 90%, depending on the type of waste
 * The amount of ash on a weight basis is as high as 25% of the input
 * Most WTE facilities require some form of pre-sorting in order to reduce the volumes of ash


 * According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, waste-to-energy facilities produce electricity with “less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity.”
 * A WTE plant takes a ton of garbage and generates about 525 kWh of electricity, which is enough energy to heat a typical office building for one day
 * 90% of Europe's WTE plants are from CEWEP (Confederation of Europe WTE Plants)


 * Countries || Tons of treated waste in 2008 ||
 * Germany || 18,752,950 ||
 * France || 11,680,214 ||
 * Nethelands || 5,772,691 ||
 * Denmark || 1,267236 ||
 * Denmark || 1,267236 ||

Japan is the largest user in thermal treatment in the world with 40 million tons

Other Thermal Technologies: >
 * Gasification
 * Thermal Depolymerization
 * Pyrolysis
 * Plasma Arc Gasification PGP or plasma gasification process

Non-thermal technologies: - MBT + Anaerobic Digestion - MBT to Refuse Derived Fuel
 * Anaerobic Digestion (Biogas rich in methane)
 * Fermentation production (examples are ethanol, lactic acid, hydrogen)
 * Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT)

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 * [[image:a.jpg width="369" height="438"]] || **Incineration**
 * Converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and heat
 * Heat generated by incineration can be used to generate electricity
 * Old facilities did not generate electricity
 * Clinical wastes and certain hazardous wastes where pathogens and toxins can be destroyed by high temperatures
 * Emission: Dioxin and furans, CO2, Sulfur Dioxide, Hydrochloric Acid, Heavy Metals and Fine Particles.
 * Newer incinerators reduce dioxin by 99.9%
 * Space for additional landfills difficult to find in densely populated areas
 * Incineration of medical waste and sewage sludge produces an end product ash that is sterile and non-hazardous
 * Incineration of medical waste and sewage sludge produces an end product ash that is sterile and non-hazardous

> ||
 * [[image:b.jpg width="368" height="356"]] || **Gasification**
 * Converts carbonaceous materials, such as coal, petroleum, biofuel, or biomass, into carbon monoxide and hydrogen by reacting the raw material at high temperatures with a controlled amount of oxygen and/or steam
 * Produces combustible gas, hydrogen, synthetic fuels
 * It is a method for extracting energy from many different types of organic materials
 * Gasification of fossil fuels is currently widely used on industrial scales to generate electricity
 * Almost any type of organic materials can be used as the raw material, such as wood, biomass and plastic waste.
 * Combusted at higher temperatures or even in fuel cells using syngas
 * May be generated in engines and gas turbines
 * Cheaper and more efficient than the steam cycle used in incineration
 * Chemical processing of the syngas may produce other synthetic fuels instead of electricity

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 * [[image:c.jpg width="368" height="379"]] || ** Thermal Depolymerization **
 * Reduction of complex organic materials into crude oil
 * Produces synthetic crude oil, which can be further refined
 * The process can break down organic poisons
 * The gas produced can be burned in a combined heat and power plant to create electricity

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 * [[image:d.jpg width="365" height="240"]] || **Pyrolysis**
 * Produces combustible tar/biooil and chars
 * Thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures(430°C) in the absence of oxygen
 * The process is used heavily in the chemical industry
 * Syngas can be produced in sufficient quantities to provide both the energy needed for pyrolysis and some excess production
 * Char can either be burned for energy or be recycled as a fertilizer

|| media type="youtube" key="iioOVevReOs" height="398" width="640"
 * [[image:e.jpg width="364" height="241"]] || **Plasma Arc Gasification**
 * Uses electrical energy and the high temperatures created by an electric arc gasifier
 * Produces rich syngas including hydrogen and carbon monoxide usable for fuel cells or generating electricity to drive the plasma arch
 * Produces usable vitrified silicate and metal ingots, salt and sulphur
 * the only byproduct is a small amount of solid non toxic residue, along with CO2 and water
 * The advanced plasma plant in U K produce power for 10,000 homes, heat for around 700 homes
 * **Waste to Energy - An Overview** ||  ||

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 * How a WTE Plant Works**

References: http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/garbage-energy/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste-to-energy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incineration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasification http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolysis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_arc_gasification http://www.eswet.eu/facts/ http://www.esauk.org/waste/facts/