to read the full report - Ecolateral by Peter Jones

Evaluation of Opportunities for Converting Indigenous UK Wastes to Wastes and Energy
AEA/ED45551/Issue 1
Directive requirements for the diversion of biodegradable waste and for the treatment of other wastes
prior to landfill mean that EfW is one of the likely options to treat this waste.
In addition there are the C&I and C&D wastes that will require treatment and disposal.
8.4 Conclusions for Combustion Technologies
Combustion, or incineration is by far the most common method of extracting energy from solid waste
either in most European countries, in either untreated form or as a prepared fuel.
It summary
• Combustion is a well established technology and the main technical challenges have been
addressed. Whatever the difficulties with the properties of the fuel engineers have developed
robust solutions that have been proven to work commercially at most scales. As a result of this,
combustion remains the default technology for heat and power against which all new, more
innovative, options must be measured.
• There seems to be a combustion solution for all waste fuels. A summary of combustion
alternatives, their scales of operation and the range of feedstocks for which they are suitable is
given in Table 66.
• There remains however significant technical uncertainty surrounding the impact of the
composition of the waste on the performance of the heat exchange surfaces, particularly fouling
and corrosion.
• Other barriers remain, such as the largely negative public perception of such sites in some
countries, notably the UK.
• A summary of risks and barriers is given in Table 66.
• There are countless examples of combustion practice worldwide on which to draw.
123