Energy Recovery

343 Pages·2009·4.15 MB·English

by  Arthur Mercier, Mostafa A. Warith, Lidia Lombardi, Francesco Cherubini, Gerfried Jungmeier

ENERGY RECOVERY

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ENERGY RECOVERY

EDGARD DUBOIS
AND
ARTHUR MERCIER
EDITORS

Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
New York
Copyright © 2009 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
DuBois, Edgard.
Energy recovery / Edgard DuBois and Arthur Mercier.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-61728-402-1 (E-Book)
1. Waste products as fuel. I. Mercier, Arthur. II. Title.
TP360.D82 2009
662'.87--dc22
2009024627

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.   New York
CONTENTS

Preface vii
Chapter 1 Biogas Recovery from Landfills 1
Sherien A. Elagroudy and Mostafa A. Warith
Chapter 2 Landfill Gas: Generation Models and Energy Recovery 69
Lidia Lombardi
Chapter 3 Energy and Material Recovery from Biomass: The Biorefinery
Approach. Concept Overview and Environmental Evaluation 97
Francesco Cherubini and Gerfried Jungmeier
Chapter 4 Pinch Technology for Waste Heat Recovery Applications
in Oil Industry 141
Mahmoud Bahy Noureldin
Chapter 5 Treatment of Secondary Sludge for Energy Recovery 187
Chunbao (Charles) Xu and Jody Lancaster
Chapter 6 Energy Recovery from Waste: Comparison
of different Technology Combinations 213
Lidia Lombardi and Andrea Corti
Chapter 7 Energy Recovery from Waste Incineration: Linking
the Systems of Energy and Waste Management 229
Kristina Holmgren
Chapter 8 Experimental Analysis of a Combined Recovery System 253
R. Herrero Martín
Chapter 9 Energy Recovery Systems from Industrial Plant Waste:
Planning of an Industrial Park Located in the South of Italy 289
Silvana Kühtz, Francesca Intini, Sara Bellini
and Giovanna Matarrese
Index 311
PREFACE

Energy recovery occurs when the energy that is released from a resource recovery
process (i.e., pyrolysis/gasification) is used for another purpose such as to generate steam,
fuel or electricity generation. This book examines the energy recovery technologies which use
landfill gas to produce energy directly. An overview of a variety of secondary sludge post
treatment methods for energy recovery is given, including incineration, gasification,
pyrolysis, direct liquefaction, supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) and anaerobic digestion.
The several routes that energy recovery can follow from waste are looked at as well, of which
the most common is waste direct combustion associated with conventional energy recovery in
a steam turbine cycle. Energy recovery in air conditioning systems to promote energy saving
and improve environmental quality is also explored in this book.
Chapter 1 - Disposal of municipal wastes can produce emissions of most of the important
greenhouse gases (GHG). Solid wastes can be disposed of through landfilling, recycling,
incineration or waste-to-energy. This chapter will deal with emissions resulting from
landfilling of solid waste. The most important gas produced in this source category is
methane (CH4). Approximately 5-20 per cent (IPCC 1992) of annual global anthropogenic
CH4 produced and released into the atmosphere is a by-product of the anaerobic
decomposition of waste. A major source of this type of CH4 production is solid waste
disposal to land. In landfills, methanogenic bacteria break down organic matter in the waste to
produce CH4. In addition to CH4, solid waste disposal sites can also produce substantial
amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC).
The gases produced in solid waste disposal sites, particularly CH4, can be a local
environmental hazard if precautions are not taken to prevent uncontrolled emissions or
migration into surrounding land. Landfill gas is known to be produced both in managed
“landfill” and “open dump” sites. Both are considered here as solid waste disposal sites
(SWDSs). Gas can migrate from SWDSs either laterally or by venting to atmosphere, causing
vegetation damage and unpleasant odors at low concentrations, while at concentrations of 5-
15 per cent in air, the gas may form explosive mixtures.
With the recognition of the formation of landfill gas and its associated hazards, and the
potential to utilize the energy content of the gas, the modern landfill site is designed to trap
the gases for flaring or use in energy recovery systems, particularly for the landfilling of
biodegradable municipal solid waste in non-hazardous waste landfills. The priority for control
of the gases is to protect the environment and prevent unacceptable risk to human health, and
viii Edgard DuBois and Arthur Mercier
a landfill gas control system is therefore required. In addition, control mechanisms are
required to minimize the risk of migration of the gases out of the site.
This chapter will describe the processes that result in gas generation from SWDSs and the
factors which affect the amount of CH4 produced. It will then describe two methodologies for
estimating CH4 emissions from SWDSs. One of these methods is a default base method
which all countries can use to estimate CH4 emissions from different types of SWDSs. It is
recommended that countries which have adequate data also estimate their emissions using the
second method presented. Finally, this section discusses sources of uncertainty associated
with any estimates of CH4 emissions from SWDSs, in particular the availability and quality of
data required.
Chapter 2 - In this chapter different landfill gas production mathematical models have
been analysed, implemented and compared among themselves and with data collected from
existing landfills. These models will be presented in the chapter. One of these models has
been selected for application to some study cases. The selected model is based on first-order
decay equation and considers as basic inputs the years of landfill operation, the amount of
municipal solid waste landfilled per year, the municipal solid waste component
characterisation and biodegradability. Three different behaviours, in reference to
biodegradation rate, have been considered dividing the material categories into rapidly,
moderately and slowly biodegradable. The model has been used to predict the landfill gas
production of a case-study landfill in order to properly size the energy recovery system. In
particular, reciprocating engines were considered for energy recovery purposes. The landfill
gas energy recovery by means of reciprocating engines is a quite widespread practice in
modern landfills, but the energy recovery system definition and sizing, also in reference to its
economic convenience, is a crucial and tricky issue. For this reason, the selection of an
appropriate combination of engines has been carried out with the aim of obtaining the
maximum profits from selling the produced electric energy. The obtained configuration for
energy recovery was evaluated also from an energetic and environmental point of view,
estimating the overall contribution to Greenhouse Effect from escaped landfill gas, collected
and combusted landfill gas and recovered electric energy avoided emissions.
Further, in order to investigate the management possibilities to enhance energy recovery,
the behaviour of a landfill where leachate is recirculated was observed, recording a more
concentrated landfill gas production in a shorter time than in conventional landfills - and
reproduced by means of adapting the landfill gas production model. The landfill gas
production and energy recovery for the conventional landfill and the landfill with leachate
recirculation were compared from different points of view: economic evaluation, energy
conversion and environmental impact. The economic analysis showed that the specific
disposal cost is lower for the landfill with leachate recirculation with respect to the
conventional landfill. Moreover, the landfill with leachate recirculation shows better indicator
values both for the overall energy conversion efficiency and for Greenhouse Effect specific
emission.
Chapter 3 - A great fraction of worldwide energy carriers and material products come
from fossil fuel refinery. Because of the on-going price increase of fossil resources, the
uncertain availability, the environmental concerns and the fact that they are not a renewable
resource, the feasibility of their exploitation is predicted to decrease in the near future.
Therefore, alternative solutions able to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels should be
promoted. Electricity and heat can be provided by a variety of renewable alternatives (wind,