ENVE 5705 | Winter 2023

Energy and Resource

Recovery from Waste

Instructor: Abid Hussain

Lecture #2 (January 18, 2023)

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 Contact

Abid Hussain
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Office: ME 2368
Email: [email protected]
 Term Project (35%)

• Term Project Deliverables

- Group of 3 students
- 12 minutes presentation
- 25 pages written report (including references)
times new roman, 12 pts, double spaced

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 Term Project
OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT:

❑ To conduct a critical review of a topic in energy and resource

recovery from waste. In preparing a critical review, the student
must bring his/her own knowledge to critically analyze literature
from a scientific and engineering perspective. The student must
synthesize a coherent and integral view of the subject; a critical
review does not merely summarize the published results of prior
studies. Specifically, the term project should include:
• An overview of the topic
• A critical review that includes recent knowledge (engineering principles,
technology, biotechnology, etc.) and policy or regulation, if appropriate
• Current scientific references (minimum of 10, published in the past 10 years)

❑ Alternatively, the students can propose and analyze options for

energy and resource recovery, for a specific industry,
community, or region (for instance, conducting a case study).
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 In-Class Participation (20%)
❑ 15-minute presentation by each student on a current topic
in the media related to energy and resource recovery.
❑ Presentation should include an explanation of why this
news story was chosen by the student and the connection
to the course module.
❑ The student is also required to prepare a question to be
directed to the class to promote a brief (2-3 minute)
discussion at the end of the presentation.

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 Waste-to-Energy Technologies

Conversion Process Major Biomass Feedstock Energy or Fuel

Technology Type Produced

Direct thermochemical wood, agricultural waste, heat

municipal solid waste, steam
Combustion residential fuels electricity

Gasification thermochemical wood, agricultural waste, low or medium-Btu

municipal solid waste producer gas

Pyrolysis thermochemical wood, agricultural waste, synthetic fuel oil

municipal solid waste charcoal

Anaerobic biochemical animal manure, agriculture biogas

(anaerobic) waste, food waste (methane)
Digestion
Ethanol biochemical sugar or starch crops, ethanol
wood waste, pulp sludge,
Production grass, straw, food waste

Biodiesel chemical rapeseed, soy beans, biodiesel

waste vegetable oil,
Production animal fats

Methanol thermochemical wood, agricultural waste, methanol

municipal solid waste
7
 Functional elements of solid waste management system

Reference: Handbook of solid waste management, George Tchobanoglous, Frank Kreith

 Sources of waste in community

Reference: Handbook of solid waste management, George Tchobanoglous, Frank Kreith

*EPA = Environmental Protection Agency (USA)
 Composition of SW

• The individual components that make up a SW stream and their

relative distribution (usually based on % by weight)

• Important in evaluating WtE equipment needs, design, systems, and

management plan

• Affects of SW composition on WtE operation and energy output

 Composition of Waste

Inorganics (glass,
metals, dirt,
inorganic fraction
of biodegradable
materials) Water
20% 20%
Fixed Carbon
5%

Ash
5%

Solids (Volatile
Solids)
50% Water

Solids (Volatile Solids)

Ash

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Variation in % composition of Waste

• Location (e.g., climate → yard waste)

• Season (e.g., veggies and fruits)
• Economic condition
• Festivals
• Business types
• Frequency of collection (convenience)
Generation Rates
• Source reduction/recycling
• Geographic location/season
• Home food waste grinders
• Collection frequency
• GNP trend (Per capita income)
• Legislation
• Public attitude
• Size of households
• Population density
• Pay-As-You throw programs
• Population increase
 Strong Correlation

• Generation of waste increases with:

– Population
– Age distribution (fraction in 15-39, employment)
– The rate of increase in GDP
• Generation decreases with average household size
(found only for developed economies)
• Low-income areas generate low amounts of
plastics, paper and cardboard, but not organics
Total MSW Generation USA (2012)
MSW management in USA

Recycling + Composting:

– 1970: 6.6% (8 million tons)

– 1980: 9.6% (14.5 million tons)
– 1990: 16.2% (29 million tons)
– 2003: 30.6% (55.4 million tons)
Source: Solid Waste Engineering (Textbook), Worrell et al. 2017
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The Province of Ontario is shifting to a circular economy— a system in
which materials are never discarded but reused or recycled into new
products and reintegrated into the market.
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Household waste generated and incinerated in
Europe from 1995 to 2010,
and percentage of waste incinerated
Waste generation and waste incineration per
capita in Europe in 2010, per countries.
29 incinerators in Denmark (2007)
 Singapore - Five Incineration Plants
Since 1979

The route
What about Canada?
 World MSW = 1200 M tonnes/yr, expected to double by
2030 with current legislations and generation rates

130 M tonnes/yr of MSW are combusted; expected to be

Global WtE 240 M tonnes/yr in the next 5 years

Industry Increase of WtE market: Western Europe (B, D, G, F, N,

S), US, Canada, Asia (S. Korea, Japan, China, India)

Co-generation of thermal energy and electricity, AD

Less green house gases generated than landfilling

Te c h n o l o g y d e p e n d s o n t h e
characteristics of the waste

Kumar and Samadder,2017

Waste to Energy Plants (Examples)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf7XG
6FaXFw
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSyE1
Kd0zhM
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdIQ1
G-2VXk
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sINno
KBda8

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39
Wastewater

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Industrial Wastewater

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How to Characterize
wastes?

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 Physical - Mass

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠
• Density: 𝜌 = 𝑀 =
𝑉 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
• Specific weight: 𝛾 = 𝑊 = 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 = 𝜌𝑔
𝑉 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
• g: gravitational acceleration (length/time2)
𝛾
• Specific gravity: SG =
𝛾 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
 P hysica l

• Waste is a composite material

• Bulk characteristics can be calculated using weighted averages

• Example: Two trucks empty SW onto a tipping floor. One truck’s load
was 10 m3 and weighed 1100 kg while the other’s was 8 m3 and weighed
1300 kg. What was the density of each load? What is the average density
of the SW once mixed on the tipping floor, assuming no compaction
occurs?
 P hysica l

𝑚 1100 𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔
• Truck one: 𝜌 1 = 1 = 3
= 110 3
𝑉1 10 𝑚 𝑚
𝑚2 1300 𝑘𝑔
• Truck two: 𝜌 2 = = = 162.5 𝑘𝑔 3
𝑉2 8 𝑚3 𝑚

𝜌 1 𝑚 1 +𝜌 2 𝑚 2 110 𝑘𝑔3 𝑘𝑔
10 𝑚 3 +(162.5 𝑚 3 )(8 𝑚 3 )
• Average: 𝜌 𝑎 𝑣 = = 𝑚
=
𝑚 1 +𝑚 2 10 𝑚 3 +8 𝑚 3
𝑘𝑔
133.3 𝑚 3
1100+1300
𝑚
• Alternately: 𝜌𝑎 𝑣 = 𝑡 𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑙 = = 133.3 𝑘𝑔3
𝑣 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 10+8 𝑚
What happens w h e n SG<1?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_2NuK5O-E
 Physical - Geotechnical

𝑚
• Gravimetric water content: 𝜃𝑔 = 𝑤 𝑎 𝑡 𝑒 𝑟
𝑚
dry
𝑉 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
• Volumetric water content: θ =
𝑉 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
• Porosity: 𝑛 = 𝑉 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠
𝑉𝑡 𝑜 𝑡 𝑎 𝑙
𝑉 𝜃
• Degree of saturation: 𝑆 = 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 =
𝑉 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 𝑛
Physical - Hydrogeologic

𝑑𝐻
• Hydraulic conductivity: 𝐽 = −𝐾 𝑑𝑥
• J: flux (volume/area/time=length/time)
• K: hydraulic conductivity (length/time)
• dH/dx: hydraulic gradient (head/length=unitless)
• Permeability: 𝜅 = 𝐾𝜇
𝜌𝑔
• 𝜅: permeability (area)
• 𝜇: dynamic viscosity of the fluid (pressure∙time; 1.3059 mPa∙s for water at 10°C)
Solid State Fermentation for
Carboxylate Production

Sprinkler System
 Thermochemical -
Proximate analysis
• A measure of the volatility and
combustability of the material
• Expressed as mass fractions
• Need to use dry sample

Image: EBS BioWizard

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 Thermochemical -
Proximate analysis
• Sample total mass=mass of moisture+mass of volatile
solids+mass of fixed solids
• Wet mass: Mass before drying material
• Dry mass: Mass after drying material at 105°C, equal to sample
volume x Total Solids (TS)
• Mass of moisture: Wet mass – dry mass, θg=(wet mass-dry
mass)/total initial mass
• Fixed solids (FS): Mass after volatilizing material at 550°C
divided by sample volume
• Fixed fraction (VF) = VS/TS
• Volatile solids (VS): TS-FS, the portion that volatilized at 550°C
• Volatile fraction (VF) = VS/TS
• Ash (A): Mass after combusting at 950°C. Part of FS.
• Combustible solids (CS): FS – A, the portion that combusted at
950°C
 Which materials are suitable for a thermal process?

T h e r m o c h e m i c a l - P r ox i m a t e a na lysis
 Thermochemical –
Ultimate analysis
• Atomic composition of the material
• Primarily C,N,H,O,S and ash
• Can determine empirical formula for material
• Example: What is the process to find the empirical formula of the comingled waste?
 Thermochemical –
Ultimate analysis
1. Assume a unit weight to simplify calculations
2. Multiply unit weight times % mass to get weight of each element in
each stream
3. Sum elements across all waste streams to get total mass for each
4. Convert mass to moles using molar mass
5. Divide by the smallest common denominator to get all values to whole
numbers
You will practice this later when you have a spreadsheet
Source: Solid Waste Engineering (Textbook), Worrell et al. 2017
 Thermochemical – Fusing
point of ash
• Temperature at which ash forms a continuous solid: clinker
• Poses operational issues in thermal processes
 Thermochemical – Energy
content
•May be determined empirically using a
calorimeter
•May be estimated from empirical formula
• Use enthalpies of combustion directly
• Or apply DuLong equation:
 Bomb Calorimeter
• Used for determining the heat value of mixed fuels
• Sample placed in the bomb
• The water container of bomb calorimeter
is well insulated
• All of the energy liberated during the
combustion is used to heat the water
and the stainless-steel bomb
• The heat energy is calculated as the
temperature increase of the water times the
mass of the water plus the bomb

Heating value or calorific value of a substance is the amount of

heat released during the combustion of a unit amount of the
substance. It is measured in unit of energy per unit of the
substance, such as kJ/kg, kcal/Kg, Btu/lb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwJG2JVg6qM
Example 1

Solution 1
 This is HHV = higher heating value

Example 2
A 10 g sample of solid waste is combusted in a calorimeter that has
a heat capacity of 8966 cal/°C. The detected temperature rise is
4.72°C. What is the heat value of this sample?

Solution 2
• There are at least 3 reasons why the HHV
number overestimates the actual heat value in
combustion: the presence of metals, the
incomplete combustion of organics and the
water leaving the in a gaseous state.
HHV = LHV + Hv (n H2O, out/N, fuel)

Where:
HHV = higher heating value
LHV= lower heating value
Hv: heat of vaporization of water
nH2O, out = moles of H2O vaporized
N, fuel = number of moles of fuel combusted
W = Cv
Source: Solid Waste Engineering (Textbook), Worrell et al. 2017
Source: Solid Waste Engineering (Textbook), Worrell et al. 2017
Biochemical analysis - B O D
• A portion of the organic matter in the volatile and fixed solids fractions
can be degraded biologically
• Expressed as mg O2/L substrate
• Typical test us BOD5, the 5 day biochemical oxygen demand assay also
used in wastewater characterization
1. Sample is prepared by grinding and suspending in water
2. Seed microorganisms are added
3. Solution is saturated with O2
4. Bottles are sealed and incubated, O2 in headspace is measured regularly over 5
day period
5. O2 consumed is equal to C degraded from material
Biochemical analysis - C O D

• Chemical oxygen demand (COD) relies on strong chemical oxidants

rather than microbial enzymes to oxidize organics in sample
• Expressed as mg O2/L substrate
• Much faster test (2 hour digestion)
• Compare BOD to COD to quantify how biodegradable the organic
fractions are
Biochemical analysis - B M P

• Landfills are usually anaerobic, and so are anaerobic digesters

• Biological methane potential (BMP) assesses biodegradability in anaerobic
conditions
• A set amount of sample is suspended in water, anaerobic inoculum added, the
bottle purged of oxygen, and the bottle incubated ina shaker
• Gas volume and concentrations are checked over 14 day period (anaerobic
processesare slower than aerobic)
• BMP is expressed as L CH4/ kg volatile solids
• A blank is run due to account for methane associate with organics added with
inoculum
• Feed to microorganism ratio (F/M; i.e. substrate to innoculum) may be
modified and optimized as well
80
81
Determination of cellulose: the mass percent cellulose can be
calculated as:

W4 = 100 – (W1+W2+W3) Note: m3 = m1; and m4 is

the mass of lignin

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Problem 1

A 1.1651-gram benzoic acid pellet (heat of combustion = 6318 cal/g) was placed in a bomb
calorimeter. The experiment produced a net corrected temperature rise of 3.077⁰ C. The acid
titration required 11.9 ml of standard alkali, and 8 cm of Parr 45C10 nickel-chromium fuse wire
was consumed in the firing. Determine the heat capacity of the bomb calorimeter.

Solution:

Given data

H = 6318 cal/gram
ΔT = 3.077 ⁰ C

M = 1.1651 gram
C1 = 11.9ml
C2 = 0
C3 = 8 cm
Problem 2

1 gram of MSW sample is heated at 105 ⁰C for 24h and the weight of the dried
material is found as 0.9 g, which is further heated in a furnace at 950 ⁰C for 7min.
The weight loss is found to be 0.3 g. The remaining material is cooled. When the
temperature reaches to ambient temperature, its lid is opened and it is further
heated in an oven at 750 ⁰C for half an hour in presence of oxygen. After cooling
the material, the residual mass of the material is found as 0.14g. Determine the
moisture content, volatile matter, ash and fixed carbon of the waste.
Solution:

Initial mass of MSW = 1g

VM content = (0.3)*100 = 30%
Moisture content = (1-0.9) * 100 = 10%
Ash content = (0.14) *100 = 14%
Fixed carbon = 100 – 10 – 30 – 14 = 46%
Problem 2

1 gram of MSW sample is heated at 105 ⁰C for 24h and the weight of the dried
material is found as 0.9 g, which is further heated in a furnace at 950 ⁰C for 7min.
The weight loss is found to be 0.3 g. The remaining material is cooled. When the
temperature reaches to ambient temperature, its lid is opened and it is further
heated in an oven at 750 ⁰C for half an hour in presence of oxygen. After cooling
the material, the residual mass of the material is found as 0.14g. Determine the
moisture content, volatile matter, ash and fixed carbon of the waste.
Solution:

Initial mass of MSW = 1g

VM content = (0.3)*100 = 30%
Moisture content = (1-0.9) * 100 = 10%
Ash content = (0.14) *100 = 14%
Fixed carbon = 100 – 10 – 30 – 14 = 46%
Initial mass of MSW = 1g
After heating at 105 ⁰C = 0.9g
Mass loss due to heating at 105 ⁰C = 1 – 0.9 = 0.1g → H20

Mass loss due to heating at 950 ⁰C = 0.3 g → VM

Mass loss due to heating at 750 ⁰C = 0.9 – 0.3 – 0.14

Mass remaining = 0.14 → Ash

0.3
𝑉𝑀 = 𝑥 100 = 30%
1
0.14
𝐴𝑠ℎ = 𝑥 100 = 14%
1
0.1
𝑀𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 = 𝑥 100 = 10%
1

Fixed Carbon = 100 – 30 – 14 – 10 = 46%

Problem 3

2 g of dried agricultural waste is leached with benzene and ethanol mixture (2:1 v/v) at ~ 60 ⁰C for
3 h. After leaching, the residue is dried in a hot air oven at 105 ⁰C to a constant weight of 1.8g.
This dried material is put in a flask containing 150 ml of (N/2) NaOH solution. The mixture is boiled
for 3.5 h. After this the residue is washed with distilled water till all the sodium ions are removed
and dried to a constant weight of 1.3 g. Determine the extractives and hemicelluloses content of
this waste on dry basis. If moisture content of the waste is 15%, determine these values with
respect to original sample.

Initial weight = 2g 85
Weight after extractives = 1.8g Extractive content = 10 x = 8.5%
100
Weight after hemicellulose separation = 1.3 g
85
𝑀0 − 𝑀1 2 −1.8
Hemicellular content = 25 x = 21.25%
100
Extractive content = = = 10 %
𝑀0 2

𝑀1 − 𝑀2 1.8 −1.3
Hemicellular content = = = 25 %
𝑀0 2
Questions ?

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Thank you !

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