Subject : Waste to Energy

Course : II M.Tech I Semester

Course Objectives:
• To study fundamentals of industrial waste conversion devices

• To understand manufacture of pyrolytic oils and gases, yields and applications

• To understand equilibrium and Kinetic consideration in gassifier operation

• To understand the thermo chemical conversion

Course Outcomes:
Students will be able

• To understand fundamentals of industrial waste conversion devices

• To understand manufacture of pyrolytic oils and gases, yields and applications

• To understand equilibrium and kinetic considera- tion in gasifier operation

• To understand the thermo chemical conversion

1 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester

UNIT – 1 ( Syllabus) :
• Classification of Waste fuel

(i) Agro based

(ii) Forest residue

(iii) Industrial Waste

• MSW(Municipal Solid Waste)

• Conversion devices

(i) Incinerators

(ii) gasifiers,

(iii) digestors

Text Books
1. Non-Conventional Energy, Desai, Ashok V, Wiley Eastern Ltd., 1990

2. Biogas Technology – A Practical Hand Book – Khandelwal KC & Mahdi SS, Vol I & II,
TMH-1983

References
1. Food, Feed and Fuel from Biomass, Challal DS, IBH Publishing Co.Pvt. Ltd,1991.

2 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester

Agro based Waste:

• Presently in India, about 960 million tonnes of solid waste is being generated
annually as by-products during industrial, mining, municipal, agricultural and other
processes.

• Agro-waste is defined as waste which is produced from various agriculture activities.

These agro-wastes include manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, leaves, and
vegetable matter. Agro-waste is usually produced through farming activities.

• Agricultural waste refers to waste produced from agricultural operations, including

waste from farms, poultry houses, and slaughterhouses.

• In addition to being potentially damaging to the environment, agricultural waste may

expose workers to harmful biological material (biohazards).

• Storing agricultural waste can multiply the hazards associated with it since stored
waste can release harmful gases.

• Specific biohazards related to agricultural waste include:

Fungi

Molds

Bacteria

Viruses

Animal-borne diseases (zoonoses)

• Removal of waste products such as manure from animal and poultry houses can
potentially expose workers to agricultural dusts, resulting in respiratory problems,
such as occupational asthma. Exposure to waste-containing pesticides and other
agrochemicals poses additional risks. Personal protective equipment (PPE) and
personal respiratory equipment (PRE) can protect workers from many types of
exposure.

3 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester

• Many agricultural wastes are economically productive resources. Agricultural slurry,

for example, can be converted to fertilizer. This incentivizes waste storage as an
economic activity. Safety hazards involved in waste storage include exposure to
environments containing carbon dioxide (CO2), ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and
methane gas. At unsafe levels, these gases can be toxic, flammable, and potentially
explosive. Waste storage environments may also produce low-oxygen environments
that can endanger workers who enter without proper protection.

• Employers have a duty to provide employees with the equipment and training
necessary for safely handling agricultural wastes.

• Workplaces are required to have first aid supplies available for treating injuries on-
site and plans for addressing accidents or spills involving agricultural waste.
Workplace risk is also reduced via requirements for a minimum safe distance
between worker camps and environments containing agricultural waste.

• Agriculture is an important part of the economy in all of the RWEDP member

countries.

• Besides the crops itself, large quantities of residues are generated every year. Rice,
wheat, sugar cane, maize (corn), soybeans and groundnuts are just a few examples
of crops that generate considerable amounts of residues.

• These residues constitute a major part of the total annual production of biomass
residues and are an important source of energy both for domestic as well as
industrial purposes.

4 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
Forest residue

• Forests play an important role in the purification of the atmospheric air. During the
day, trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and give out oxygen.
As such, they help in the purification of the air that we breathe.

• Forest residues consist of small trees, branches, tops and un-merchantable wood left
in the forest after the cleaning, thinning or final felling of forest stands, used as fuel
without any intermittent applications.

• Forest harvesting is a major source of biomass for energy. Harvesting may occur as
thinning in young stands, or cutting in older stands for timber or pulp that also yields
tops and branches usable for bioenergy. Harvesting operations usually remove only
25 to 50 percent of the volume, leaving the residues available as biomass for energy.
Stands damaged by insects, disease or fire are additional sources of biomass.

• Forest residues normally have low density and fuel values that keep transport costs
high, and so it is economical to reduce the biomass density in the forest itself.

5 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester

Biomass as Renewable Energy source

• Biomass is a key renewable energy resource that includes plant and animal material,
such as wood from forests, material left over from agricultural and forestry
processes, and organic industrial, human and animal wastes. The energy contained
in biomass originally came from the sun. Through photosynthesis carbon dioxide in
the air is transformed into other carbon containing molecules (e.g. sugars, starches
and cellulose) in plants.

• The chemical energy that is stored in plants and animals (animals eat plants or other
animals) or in their waste is called biomass energy or bioenergy

Biomass comes from a variety of sources which include:

• Wood from natural forests and woodlands

• Forestry plantations

• Forestry residues

• Agricultural residues such as straw, stover, cane trash and green agricultural wastes

• Agro-industrial wastes, such as sugarcane bagassebag and rice husk

• Animal wastes (cow manure, poultry litter etc)

• Industrial wastes, such as black liquor from paper manufacturing

• Sewage

• Municipal solid wastes (MSW)

• Food Processing wastes

6 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
Industrial Waste

• The food industry produces a large number of residues and by-products that can be
used as biomass energy sources. These waste materials are generated from all
sectors of the food industry with everything from meat production to confectionery
producing waste that can be utilised as an energy source.

• Solid wastes include peelings and scraps from fruit and vegetables, food that does
not meet quality control standards, pulp and fibre from sugar and starch extraction,
filter sludges and coffee grounds. These wastes are usually disposed of in landfill
dumps.

• Liquid wastes are generated by washing meat, fruit and vegetables, blanching fruit
and vegetables, pre-cooking meats, poultry and fish, cleaning and processing
operations as well as wine making.

• These waste waters contain sugars, starches and other dissolved and solid organic
matter. The potential exists for these industrial wastes to be anaerobically digested
to produce biogas, or fermented to produce ethanol, and several commercial
examples of waste-to-energy conversion already exist.

• Pulp and paper industry is considered to be one of the highly polluting industries and
consumes large amount of energy and water in various unit operations. The
wastewater discharged by this industry is highly heterogeneous as it contains
compounds from wood or other raw materials, processed chemicals as well as
compound formed during processing.

• Black liquor can be judiciously utilized for production of biogas using anaerobic UASB
technology.

7 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
Municipal Solid Waste(MSW)

• Millions of tonnes of household waste are collected each year with the vast majority
disposed of in open fields. The biomass resource in MSW comprises the putrescibles,
paper and plastic and averages 80% of the total MSW collected.

• Municipal solid waste can be converted into energy by direct combustion, or by

natural anaerobic digestion in the engineered landfill.

• At the landfill sites, the gas produced, known as landfill gas or LFG, by the natural
decomposition of MSW (approximately 50% methane and 50% carbon dioxide) is
collected from the stored material and scrubbed and cleaned before feeding into
internal combustion engines or gas turbines to generate heat and power.

• The organic fraction of MSW can be anaerobically stabilized in a high-rate digester to

obtain biogas for electricity or steam generation.

Sewage:
• Sewage is a source of biomass energy that is very similar to the other animal wastes.
Energy can be extracted from sewage using anaerobic digestion to produce biogas.

• The sewage sludge that remains can be incinerated or undergo pyrolysis to produce
more biogas.

BIOMASS SOURCES

8 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
CONVERSION DEVICES
INCINERATORS:
• An incinerator is a furnace for burning waste. Modern incinerators include pollution
mitigation equipment such as flue gas cleaning. There are various types of
incinerator plant design: moving grate, fixed grate, rotary-kiln, and fluidised bed.

• Incineration is a waste treatment process waste that involves the combustion of

organic substances contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high-
temperature waste treatment systems are described as “thermal treatment".

• Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. The
ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste and may take the
form of solid lumps or particulates carried by the flue gas. The flue gases must be
cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are dispersed into
the atmosphere. In some cases, the heat generated by incineration can be used to
generate electric power.

• Incineration with energy recovery energy is one of several waste to

energy technologies such as gasification, pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion.

• While incineration and gasification technologies are similar in principle, the energy
produced from incineration is high-temperature heat whereas combustible gas is
often the main energy product from gasification.

• Incineration and gasification may also be implemented without energy and materials
recovery.

9 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
• A typical small burn pile in a garden is shown below

• Figure shows Municipal Solid waste in the furnace of a moving grate

incinerator capable of handling 15 metric tons of waste per hour

10 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
Moving Grate Incinerator
• The typical incineration plant for municipal solid waste is a moving grate incinerator.
The moving grate enables the movement of waste through the combustion chamber
to be optimized to allow a more efficient and complete combustion. A single moving
grate boiler can handle up to 35 metric tons (39 short tons) of waste per hour, and
can operate 8,000 hours per year with only one scheduled stop for inspection and
maintenance of about one month's duration.

• Moving grate incinerators are sometimes referred to as Municipal Solid Waste

Incinerators (MSWIs).

Fixed grate Incinerator

• The older and simpler kind of incinerator was a brick-lined cell with a fixed metal
grate over a lower ash pit, with one opening in the top or side for loading and
another opening in the side for removing incombustible solids called clinkers.

• Many small incinerators formerly found in apartment houses have now been
replaced by waste compactors.

Rotary-kiln Incinerator

• The rotary-kiln incinerator is used by municipalities and by large

industrial plants.
• This design of incinerator has two chambers: a primary chamber and secondary
chamber. The primary chamber in a rotary kiln incinerator consists of an inclined
refractory lined cylindrical tube. The inner refractory lining serves as sacrificial layer
to protect the kiln structure.

• This refractory layer needs to be replaced from time to time. Movement of the
cylinder on its axis facilitates movement of waste. In the primary chamber, there is
conversion of solid fraction to gases, through volatilization, destructive
distillationand partial combustionreactions. The secondary chamber is necessary to
complete gas phase combustion reactions.

11 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
• The clinkers spill out at the end of the cylinder. A tall flue-gas stack, fan, or steam jet
supplies the needed draft. Ash drops through the grate, but many particles are
carried along with the hot gases. The particles and any combustible gases may be
combusted in an "afterburner“.

Fluidized bed Incinerator

• A strong airflow is forced through a sandbed. The air seeps through the sand until a
point is reached where the sand particles separate to let the air through and mixing
and churning occurs, thus a fluidized bed is created and fuel and waste can now be
introduced.

• The sand with the pre-treated waste and/or fuel is kept suspended on pumped air
currents and takes on a fluid-like character. The bed is thereby violently mixed and
agitated keeping small inert particles and air in a fluid-like state. This allows all of the
mass of waste, fuel and sand to be fully circulated through the furnace.

12 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
Use of heat in incinerator
• The heat produced by an incinerator can be used to generate steam which may then
be used to drive a turbine in order to produce electricity. The typical amount of net
energy that can be produced per tonne municipal waste is about 2/3 MWh of
electricity and 2 MWh of district heating.

• Thus, incinerating about 600 metric tons (660 short tons) per day of waste will
produce about 400 MWh of electrical energy per day (17 MW of electrical power
continuously for 24 hours) and 1200 MWh of district heating energy each day.

Pollution due to incinerators

• Incineration has a number of outputs such as the ash and the emission to the
atmosphere of flue gas. Before the flue gas cleaning system, if installed, the flue
gases may contain particulate matter, heavy metals, dioxins, furans, sulphur dioxide
and hydrochloric acid.

• If plants have inadequate flue gas cleaning, these outputs may add a significant
pollution component to stack emissions.

• According to Germany’s Ministry of the Environment, waste incinerators reduce the

amount of some atmospheric pollutants by substituting power produced by coal-
fired plants with power from waste-fired plants.

13 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
Gasifiers

• Gasification is a process that converts organic or fossil fuel based carbonaceous

materials into carbon monoxide, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. This is achieved by
reacting the material at high temperatures (>700 °C), without combustion, with a
controlled amount of oxygenand/or steam. The resulting gas mixture is
called syngas (from synthesis gas) or producer gas and is itself a fuel. The power
derived from gasification and combustion of the resultant gas is considered to be a
source of renewable energy if the gasified compounds were obtained from biomass.

• The advantage of gasification is that using the syngas (synthesis gas H2/CO) is
potentially more efficient than direct combustion of the original fuel because it can
be combusted at higher temperatures or even in fuel cells, so that the
thermodynamic upper limit to the efficiency defined by Carnot's rule is higher or (in
case of fuel cells) not applicable.

• Syngas may be burned directly in gas engines, used to produce methanol and
hydrogen, or converted via the Fischer–Tropsch process into synthetic fuel.
Gasification can also begin with material which would otherwise have been disposed
of such as biodegradable waste.

• In addition, the high-temperature process refines out corrosive ash elements such
as chloride and potassium, allowing clean gas production from otherwise
problematic fuels. Gasification of fossil fuels is currently widely used on industrial
scales to generate electricity.

14 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
Chemical reactions

• In a gasifier, the carbonaceous material undergoes several different processes:

• The dehyration or drying process occurs at around 100 °C. Typically the resulting
steam is mixed into the gas flow and may be involved with subsequent chemical
reactions, notably the water-gas reaction if the temperature is sufficiently high (see
step #5).

• The pyrolysis(or devolatilization) process occurs at around 200–300 °C. Volatiles are
released and char is produced, resulting in up to 70% weight loss for coal. The
process is dependent on the properties of the carbonaceous material and
determines the structure and composition of the char, which will then undergo
gasification reactions.

• The combustion process occurs as the volatile products and some of the char react
with oxygen to primarily form carbon dioxide and small amounts of carbon
monoxide, which provides heat for the subsequent gasification reactions.

• Letting C represent a carbon-containing organic compound, the basic reaction here

is C + O2CO2

• The gasification process occurs as the char reacts with steam and carbon dioxide to
produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen, via the reactions

C + H2O  H2+CO and C + CO2  2 CO

In addition, the reversible gas phase water-gas shift reaction reaches equilibrium very fast at
the temperatures in a gasifier. This balances the concentrations of carbon monoxide, steam,
carbon dioxide and hydrogen

15 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
Types of gasifiers
There are four types of gasifiers

1. Updraft gasifier
2. Downdraft gasifier
3. Fluidized bed gasifier
4. Entrained Bed gasifier

16 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester

Waste gasification has several advantages over incineration:

• The necessary extensive flue gas cleaning may be performed on the

syngas instead of the much larger volume of flue gas flue after
combustion.

• Electric power may be generated in engines and gas turbines which are
much cheaper and more efficient than the steam cycle used in
incineration. Even fuel cells may potentially be used, but these have
rather severe requirements regarding the purity of the gas.

• Chemical processing (Gas to liquids) of the syngas may produce other

synthetic fuels instead of electricity.

• Some gasification processes treat ash containing heavy metals at very

high temperatures so that it is released in a glassy and chemically stable
form.

17 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
Digesters

A biogas digester (also known as a biogas plant) is a large tank where inside Biogas is
produced through the decomposition/breakdown of organic matter through a process
called anaerobic digestion. It’s called a digester because organic material is eaten and
digested by bacteria to produce biogas.
A biogas digester forms the most critical part of biogas production because without it, no
biogas would be produced without the breakdown of organic waste or material.

To understand how biogas is produced, it’s important to understand the components of a

biogas digester, which itself is part of a biogas electric generator plant. A typical biogas
digester has a container that holds organic matter and water. This mixture of water and
organic matter is called slurry.
A digester has another container that holds the gas that has been produced after the
organic matter is broken down. The digester has connecting systems in the form of pipes
that feed the digester with slurry and connect the container holding slurry to the container
that is holding the gas. There is also a transport system to take the biogas to where it will be
used. The digester also has a mechanism for ejecting the residue.

18 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.

 Subject : Waste to Energy
Course : II M.Tech I Semester
To understand how biogas is produced, it’s important to understand the components of a
biogas digester, which itself is part of a biogas electric generator plant. A typical biogas
digester has a container that holds organic matter and water. This mixture of water and
organic matter is called slurry.

A digester has another container that holds the gas that has been produced after the
organic matter is broken down. The digester has connecting systems in the form of pipes
that feed the digester with slurry and connect the container holding slurry to the container
that is holding the gas. There is also a transport system to take the biogas to where it will be
used. The digester also has a mechanism for ejecting the residue.

Biogas plants can take various shapes and forms. A simple agricultural plant could cost as
low as $3,500 per electrical kW installed. Municipal food waste plant can cost up to
$19,000/kWe installed! Every project is different.

19 T Madhuranthaka(TMR), Associate Professor, Department of E.E.E.