Waste-to-energy plant

Facility that incinerates unusable waste

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Understanding Waste-to-Energy Plant Capacity

A waste-to-energy plant operates as a facility where waste material is incinerated for the purpose of generating electricity. These power plants are commonly referred to by a variety of names including trash-to-energy, incineration of municipal waste, energy recovery, and resource recovery plants.

Today's waste-to-energy facilities are significantly more advanced compared to the traditional incinerators that predominated several decades ago. Older incinerators typically failed to sort hazardous and recyclable materials prior to burning, posing health risks to both workers and adjacent communities, while often not producing electricity.

Many countries are increasingly evaluating waste-to-energy generation as a potential energy diversification option, with Sweden showcasing leadership in this area over the past two decades. Generally, waste-to-energy plants can convert about 500 to 600 kWh of electricity from just one ton of waste incinerated. For instance, incinerating around 2,200 tons of waste daily could generate approximately 1,200 MWh of electrical energy.

Operational Process

In the United States, most waste-to-energy facilities incinerate municipal solid waste; however, there are some that handle industrial or hazardous waste. Modern plants are designed to sort materials before combustion, ensuring they only burn waste that cannot be recycled and is non-hazardous.

These plants share design similarities with other steam-electric power facilities, particularly biomass stations. Initially, the waste is transported to the plant where it undergoes sorting to extract recyclable and hazardous substances. The sorted waste is then stored until combustion occurs. While a few facilities utilize gasification, the majority favor direct combustion due to its efficiency and maturity as a technology. Waste can be introduced into the boiler either continuously or in batches, depending on the facility's structure.

Waste-to-energy plants dispose of around 80 to 90 percent of the waste by volume. The resulting ash may be sufficiently clean to be repurposed for various applications like production of cinder blocks or road construction. Additionally, metals that are incinerated are recovered from the furnace's bottom and sold for recycling. Some of these plants also have the capability to convert saltwater into potable water as a by-product of their cooling operations.

Investment Considerations

The average construction cost for a plant with an annual energy production capacity of 400 GWh is around 440 million dollars. Waste-to-energy facilities can present a notable cost advantage over conventional power generation methods, as the operators may receive income from waste disposal fees instead of incurring costs associated with fuel procurement. The National Solid Waste Management Association reports that the typical tipping fee in the United States stands at approximately $33.70 per ton.

Environmental Impact

While waste-to-energy plants emit less air pollution compared to coal power plants, they remain more polluting than natural gas plants. Nevertheless, they hold a carbon-negative status: transforming waste into energy generates significantly lower carbon and methane emissions than landfill decay.

These facilities are engineered to minimize the release of pollutants into the atmosphere, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulates, while also dismantling pre-existing waste pollutants utilizing control technologies like scrubbers and baghouses. Effective combustion and scrubbing technologies contribute to substantial reductions in air pollution emissions.

Despite these measures, burning municipal waste produces considerable amounts of dioxins and furans compared to emissions from burning natural gas or coal. Such emissions are widely regarded as serious health risks. However, advancements in emission control designs and strict regulations, accompanied by public pushback against waste incinerators, have led to a marked decline in the production of these harmful substances.

Much like coal combustion, waste-to-energy processes yield fly ash and bottom ash as by-products. The collective ash produced can vary between 15% and 25% of the original waste weight, with fly ash contributing 10% to 20% of the total. The hazardous nature of fly ash poses a greater health risk because it harbors toxic metals such as lead and cadmium alongside trace amounts of dioxins and furans. U.S. regulations mandate toxicity tests on the ash prior to its landfill disposal.

Furthermore, odor issues can arise when the facility is not adequately isolated. Some plants mitigate this by storing waste in enclosed areas at negative pressure to trap odor, channeling the air through the boiler or a filter. However, not all facilities proactively manage odor, leading to community complaints.

Increased truck traffic transporting waste to the facility often affects community relations. As a result, most waste-to-energy plants are strategically located in industrial zones.

Concerning landfill gas—which typically consists of about 50% methane and 50% carbon dioxide—it is often not subject to rigorous pollution controls during combustion. This gas is typically flared or used to power generators or microturbines, particularly in digesters.

Further Reading

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References

Greenpeace. (). World Energy [R]evolution, a sustainable world energy outlook. Retrieved from: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/climate//Energy-Revolution--Full.pdf

IEA. (a). Energy Technology Perspectives - Towards Sustainable Urban Energy Systems. International Energy Agency. OECD/IEA, Paris, France. Retrieved from: https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/EnergyTechnologyPerspectives_ExecutiveSummary_EnglishVersion.pdf

IEA. (b). Annex I: Municipal solid waste potential in cities. Retrieved November 14, , from http://www.iea.org/media/etp/etp/AnnexI_MSWpotential_web.pdf

Monni, Suvi, Riitta Pipatti, Antti Lehtila, Ilkka Savolainen, and Sanna Syri. (). Global Climate Change Mitigation Scenarios for Solid Waste Management. VTT Publications 603. Espoo. https://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/publications//P603.pdf

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