Wastes as Co-Fuels:  The Policy Framework for Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) in Europe, with UK Implications

Garg, Anurag; Smith, Richard; Hill, D.; Simms, N.J.; Pollard, Simon J. T.

doi:10.1021/es062163e

Cited by 81 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…It is a lightweight material with less than 20% moisture and formed by fragments of about 4 cm. SRF is more homogeneous and less contaminated than the generic refuse derived fuel (RDF) [2]. It is being tested as an alternative fuel for cement industry, but its calorific value is much lower than the petroleum coke, so that to achieve high energy substitutions a great deal of SRF must be fed into the kiln in comparison with conventional fuels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollutant Formation and Emissions from Cement Kiln Stack Using a Solid Recovered Fuel from Municipal Solid Waste

Conesa

Rey

Egea

et al. 2011

Environ. Sci. Technol.

106

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The thermal decomposition of a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) has been studied by two techniques. First, laboratory-scale experiments were performed in a horizontal furnace in which different atmospheres are studied to analyze the dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) evolved from the decomposition of the material. Sulfur presence is revealed to be important in PCDD/Fs formation. In the second technique, the emission of various pollutants (PAHs, PCDD/Fs, metals, acid gases …) were determined in a cement kiln fed on different proportions of SRF material, and where a maximum feed rate of 15000 kg SRF/h was achieved. In the laboratory furnace the dioxin toxicity revealed a maximum when the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere increased until approximately stoichiometric conditions. In the cement kiln, all emitted pollutants are under the legal limits. No correlation between SRF input and metal emission was observed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollutant Formation and Emissions from Cement Kiln Stack Using a Solid Recovered Fuel from Municipal Solid Waste

Conesa

Rey

Egea

et al. 2011

Environ. Sci. Technol.

106

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“…After the separation of recyclables, the mixture of nonreadily biodegradable organic components make up a combustible fraction of MSW, which can be made into solid recovered fuels (SRF) and refuse derived fuels (RDF), depending on the specification. The stringent regulations concerning the production and utilization of SRF and RDF indicate that many components of MSW cannot be directly burned as fuels [1][2]. Massproduced synthetic polymers such as plastics and textile materials fall into the category of combustible MSW fractions [3].…”

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confidence: 99%

Supercritical water gasification of RDF and its components over RuO2/γ-Al2O3 catalyst: New insights into RuO2 catalytic reaction mechanisms

Onwudili

2016

Fuel

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Five samples, including a composite refuse derived fuel (RDF) and four combustible components of municipal solid wastes (MSW) have been reacted under supercritical water conditions in a batch reactor. The reactions have been carried out at 450 °C for 60 min reaction time, with or without 20 wt% RuO2/gamma-alumina catalyst. The reactivities of the samples depended on their compositions; with the plastic-rich samples, RDF and mixed waste plastics (MWP), giving similar product yields and compositions, while the biogenic samples including mixed waste wood (MWW) and textile waste (TXT) also gave similar reaction products. The use of the heterogeneous ruthenium-based catalyst gave carbon gasification efficiencies (CGE) of up to 99 wt%, which was up by at least 83% compared to the non-catalytic tests. In the presence of RuO2 catalyst, methane, hydrogen and carbon dioxide became the dominant gas products for all five samples. The higher heating values (HHV) of the gas products increased at least two-fold in the presence of the catalyst compared to non-catalytic tests. Results show that the ruthenium-based catalyst was active in feedstock steam reforming, methanation and possible direct hydrogenolysis of C-C bonds. This work provides new insights into the catalytic mechanisms of RuO2 during SCWG of carbonaceous materials, along with the possibility of producing high yields of methane from MSW fractions.Keywords: MSW, supercritical water gasification, ruthenium catalysis, mechanisms, methane * Corresponding Author. Tel.: +44 121 204 4703 Email address: j.onwudili@aston.ac.uk 2 IntroductionRapid urbanization and technological developments are largely responsible for the increasing generation of millions of tonnes of municipal solid wastes (MSW) in major cities around the world. MSW can be broadly classified into organic and inorganic fractions. Among the organic components of MSW, further classifications can be made into biodegradable and nonbiodegradable fractions. By far, food and garden wastes occupy a huge proportion of MSW but these are biodegradable and are often treated by anaerobic digestion (AD) to produce biogas, leading to complete mineralization. After the separation of recyclables, the mixture of nonreadily biodegradable organic components make up a combustible fraction of MSW, which can be made into solid recovered fuels (SRF) and refuse derived fuels (RDF), depending on the specification. The stringent regulations concerning the production and utilization of SRF and RDF indicate that many components of MSW cannot be directly burned as fuels [1][2]. Massproduced synthetic polymers such as plastics and textile materials fall into the category of combustible MSW fractions [3]. Other organic components of MSW that do not hold huge attractions for AD operators include waste wood and reinforced cardboards.Advanced thermochemical technologies suitable for treating plastics and other combustible organic wastes and materials include incineration, pyrolysis and gasification. These technologies convert organic ...

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“…On the contrary, MSW allows a more homogeneous analysis of international interest concerning the exploitation of its energy content. MSW can be used in different plants directly or after some pre-treatments in order to generate: electric and thermal energy or biofuels [8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy from municipal solid waste

Rada

2014

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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This paper presents an overview of the solutions available for obtaining energy from municipal solid waste. Special waste is not taken into account because of its extreme variability of characteristics from region to region and from type to type. On the contrary, municipal solid waste shows aspects useful for a more homogeneous analysis of international interest concerning the exploitation of its energy content. The first part of this paper deals with the evolution of the interest towards energy recovery from municipal solid waste. The analysis is performed at an international level, but a zoom is presented referring to the European Union. The second part of the paper concerns the energy availability taking into account the dynamics of qualitative and quantitative composition of municipal solid waste. The third part analyses the role of selective collection in the frame of energy recovery. In this case it is pointed out how food waste selective collection can change the approach of biogas exploitation: from a landfill based concept (with sanitary landfill seen as a bioreactor) to a reactor based scenario (where the anaerobic digester allows for the collection of 100% of the biogas generated). The fourth section of the paper concerns the trend in residual municipal solid waste exploitation, taking into account the effects of the European Union directives on the energy recovery strategies and the role played by the Directive 1999/31/CE (a compulsory pre-treatment makes less interesting the option of landfilling, moving the energy exploitation of residual municipal solid waste towards thermal treatments). Finally, a section of this paper concerns a case study that offers a vision on how much anaerobic digestion and thermal treatments can support the energy demand of a citizen.

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Wastes as Co-Fuels: The Policy Framework for Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) in Europe, with UK Implications

Cited by 81 publications

References 16 publications

Pollutant Formation and Emissions from Cement Kiln Stack Using a Solid Recovered Fuel from Municipal Solid Waste

Pollutant Formation and Emissions from Cement Kiln Stack Using a Solid Recovered Fuel from Municipal Solid Waste

Supercritical water gasification of RDF and its components over RuO2/γ-Al2O3 catalyst: New insights into RuO2 catalytic reaction mechanisms

Energy from municipal solid waste

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