OCTOBER 19-20, 2012 - YMCA University of Science & Technology

Proceedings of the National Conference on
Trends and Advances in Mechanical Engineering,
YMCA University of Science & Technology, Faridabad, Haryana, Oct 19-20, 2012
Fig. 2: Process Flow Chart
The flow chart depicting conversion from waste to energy is shown in Fig. 2. Municipal solid waste to energy
power plants can use one of four main types of technology, and these are refuse derived fuel, mass burn,
pyrolysis, and modular controlled air. These plants are intended to burn municipal solid waste around the clock,
and can be extremely efficient. One ton of municipal solid waste can provide five to six hundred hours of light or
other electrical needs to your home. Since America makes millions of tons of the stuff, it is not hard to see the
unlimited possibilities. Refuse derived fuel municipal solid waste to energy power plants, also called RDF
facilities, have a processing area where recyclable products are taken out of the waste stream and used for the
boiler, to create the heat. Fig. 3 shows the RDF processing system design. These plants can eliminate almost
fourteen hundred tons of municipal solid waste each day, which takes a lot of pressure off the landfills and the
environment. Municipal solid waste to energy facilities may also use the mass burn technology. In this process,
mixed municipal solid waste is dumped into the boilers with no preparation or sorting.
Fig. 3: RDF Processing System Design
The third type of electricity from municipal solid waste technology is the modular controlled air incineration
system. These power plants can only utilize around fifty tons of municipal solid waste per day, and use two
different combustion processes. The first chamber does not completely burn the waste, and creates a gas that is
used in the second combustion chamber. These waste to energy plants are not very efficient, and cannot create
electricity for resale to the utility companies. Pyrolysis is the fourth technology used in some methods of
municipal solid waste management. This process uses a chamber that has no oxygen and a high temperature to
decompose wastes that are organic. When Pyrolysis and gasification occur together, the process is more efficient
and cost effective.
150
100
50
0
Total Waste Generation
(million tonnes)
1947
1997
2005
2010
2015
2020
Fig.4: Waste Generation(Source: TIFAC & DST, Govt. Of India)
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