AGE 421

AGRICULTURAL WASTE MANAGEMENT

LUANAR – Bunda College

2020/2021 Academic Year

Lecturer: Lameck FIWA

[email protected]
Agricultural Engineering Department
Management of Solid Waste
Functions of a Solid Waste Management System
• Just like any other WMS, a solid waste management system
has six basic functions:
oProduction
oCollection
oStorage
oTreatment
oTransfer
oUtilization
• In this module, we will introduce the treatment function.
 Treatment of Solid Waste
• Treatment is any function designed to reduce the pollution
potential of the waste, including physical, biological, and
chemical treatment.
• Primary and secondary sludge from wastewater treatment
processes also requires treatment and is often treated as solid
waste.
• A variety of treatment operations and processes are available
for solid waste.
Landfills ...(1)
• Landfills are engineered areas where waste is placed
into the land.

• Landfills usually have liner systems and other

safeguards to prevent polluting the groundwater.

• Modern landfills or bioreactor landfills are designed to

yield biogas or landfill gas.
 Landfills ...(2)
• Disposing of waste in a landfill involves burying the waste, and
this remains a common practice in most countries.

• Landfills were often established in abandoned or unused

quarries, mining voids or borrow pits.

• A properly designed and well-managed landfill can be a

hygienic and relatively inexpensive method of disposing of
waste materials.
 Landfills ...(3)
• Older, poorly designed or poorly managed landfills can create
a number of adverse environmental impacts such as wind-
blown litter, attraction of vermin, and generation of liquid
leachate.

• Another common byproduct of landfills is gas (mostly

composed of methane and carbon dioxide), which is
produced as organic waste breaks down anaerobically.

• This gas can create odour problems, kill surface vegetation,

and is a greenhouse gas.
 Landfills ...(4)
• Design characteristics of a modern landfill include methods to contain
leachate such as clay or plastic lining material.

• Deposited waste is normally compacted to increase its density and

stability, and covered to prevent attracting vermin (such as mice or
rats).

• Many landfills also have landfill gas extraction systems installed to

extract the landfill gas.

• Gas is pumped out of the landfill using perforated pipes and flared off
or burnt in a gas engine to generate electricity.
 Composting ...(1)
• Composting is the natural process of 'rotting' or decomposition of organic
matter by microorganisms under controlled conditions.
• Raw organic materials such as crop residues, animal wastes, food garbage,
some municipal wastes and suitable industrial wastes, enhance their
suitability for application to the soil as a fertilizing resource, after having
undergone composting.
• Compost is a rich source of organic matter.
• Soil organic matter plays an important role in sustaining soil fertility, and
hence in sustainable agricultural production.
• In addition to being a source of plant nutrient, it improves the physico-
chemical and biological properties of the soil.
Composting ...(2)
• Waste materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material,
food scraps, and paper products, can be recycled using biological
composting and digestion processes to decompose the organic
matter.

• The intention of composting is to control and accelerate the natural

process of decomposition of organic matter by providing a suitable
environment for the microbes that break down the waste as they feed
on the waste.

• The resulting organic material is recycled as mulch or compost for

agricultural or landscaping purposes.
Composting ...(3)
• Compost is a good organic fertilizer and soil conditioner.

• Methods of biological decomposition are differentiated as

being aerobic or anaerobic methods, though hybrids of the
two methods also exist.

• Forced aeration and using mineral compounds such as

ammonium sulphate, chicken manure, and urine and turning
the material on a daily basis increase the rate of
decomposition of the material.
Composting
Combustion/Incineration ...(1)
• Combustion/Incineration is a disposal method that involves
combustion of waste materials so as to convert them into
residue ash and gaseous products.

• Combustion of solid waste is done to reduce the amount of

landfill space needed since it reduces the volumes of solid
waste to 20 to 30 percent of the original volume.

• Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment

systems are sometimes described as "thermal treatment".
Combustion/Incineration ...(2)
• Incineration is carried out both on a small scale by individuals
and on a large scale by industry.

• It is recognized as a practical method of disposing of certain

hazardous waste materials (such as biological medical waste).

• Incineration is a controversial method of waste disposal, due to

issues such as emission of gaseous pollutants.

• Combustion may be combined with energy recovery.

 Energy Recovery: Waste-to-Energy Conversion
• Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) are broad
terms for facilities that burn waste in a furnace or boiler to
generate heat, steam and/or electricity.

• Waste-to-energy technologies also convert waste into energy

using such technologies as anaerobic digestion.

• Energy Recovery from waste is the conversion of non-

recyclable waste materials into useable heat, electricity, or
fuel.
Energy Recovery options
• The energy content of waste products can be harnessed directly
by using them as a direct combustion fuel, or indirectly by
processing them into another type of fuel.

• Energy recovery through thermal treatment ranges from using

waste as a fuel source for cooking or heating, to anaerobic
digestion and the use of the gas fuel, to fuel for boilers to
generate steam and electricity in a turbine.
 Energy Recovery by Pyrolysis ...(1)
• Pyrolysis and gasification are two related forms of thermal treatment
where waste materials are heated to high temperatures with limited
oxygen availability.

• The process usually occurs in a sealed vessel under high pressure.

• Pyrolysis of solid waste converts the material into solid, liquid and gas
products.

• The liquid and gas can be burnt to produce energy or refined into
other chemical products (chemical refinery).
Energy Recovery by Pyrolysis ...(2)
• The solid residue (char) can be further refined into products such as
activated carbon.

• Gasification and advanced Plasma arc gasification are used to convert

organic materials directly into a synthetic gas (syngas) composed of
carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

• The gas is then burnt to produce electricity and steam.

• An alternative to pyrolisis is high temperature and pressure

supercritical water decomposition (hydrothermal monophasic
oxidation).
 Anaerobic digestion ...(1)
• Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the process whereby
bacteria break down organic material in the absence
of oxygen, yielding biogas.

• The products of this process are:

oBiogas (principally methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide
(CO2))
oA solid residue (fibre or digestate) that is similar, but not
identical, to compost
oA liquid liquor that can be used as a fertilizer.
Anaerobic digestion ...(2)
• Anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of waste has been
found to be in a number of LCA analysis studies to be more
environmentally effective, than landfill, incineration or
pyrolysis.

• The resulting biogas (methane + carbon dioxide) though must

be used for cogeneration (electricity and heat preferably on or
close to the site of production) and can be used with a little
upgrading in gas combustion engines or turbines.
 Anaerobic digestion ...(3)
• Biogas can further be upgraded to synthetic natural gas
and can be injected into the natural gas network or
further refined to hydrogen for use in stationary
cogeneration fuel cells.

• The use of biogas-derived hydrogen in fuel cells

eliminates the pollution from products of combustion.
Biogas plant
 Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) ...(1)

• Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) is a comprehensive

waste prevention, recycling, composting, and disposal program.

• An effective ISWM system considers how to prevent, recycle, and

manage solid waste in ways that most effectively protect human
health and the environment.
Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) ...(2)
• ISWM involves evaluating local needs and conditions,
and then selecting and combining the most appropriate
waste management activities for those conditions.

• The major ISWM activities are waste prevention,

recycling and composting, and combustion and disposal
in properly designed, constructed, and managed
landfills.
Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) ...(3)
Questions to consider when establishing a waste management system

• Legal requirements: Have you sought permits?

• Technical: What is the type of waste and how is it handled?
• Financial: Where will you get the funds for the system?
• Economic: What will it cost to implement various waste
management activities?
• Technical: Where will you build collection and disposal facilities
and what equipment will you need?
• Environmental: Will solid waste management activities (e.g.,
landfilling or combustion) affect the environment?