This degree project focused on examining new possible application of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for quantitative and qualitative characterization of refuse derived fuel (RDF). Particularly, two possible applications were examined as part of the project. Firstly, use of NIR hyperspectral imaging for classification of common materials present in RDF. The classification was studied on artificial mixtures of materials commonly present in municipal solid waste and RDF. Data from hyperspectral camera was used as an input for machine learning models to train them, validate them, and test them. Three classification machine learning models were used in the project; partial least-square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), support vector machine (SVM), and radial basis neural network (RBNN). Best results for classifying the materials into 11 distinct classes were reached for SVM (accuracy 94%), even though its high computational cost makes it not very suitable for real-time deployment. Second best result was reached for RBNN (91%) and the lowest accuracy was recorded for PLS-DA model (88%). On the other hand, the PLS-DA model was the fastest, being 10 times faster than the RBNN and 100 times faster than the SVM. NIR spectroscopy was concluded as a suitable method for identification of most common materials in RDF mix, except for incombustible materials like glass, metals, or ceramics. The second part of the project uncovered a potential in using NIR spectroscopy for identification of inorganic chlorine content in RDF. Experiments were performed on samples of textile impregnated with a water solution of kitchen salt representing NaCl as inorganic chlorine source. Results showed that contents of 0.2-1 wt.% of salt can be identified in absorbance spectra of the samples. Limitation appeared to be water content of the examined samples, as with too large amount of water in the sample, the influence of salt on NIR absorbance spectrum of water was too small to be recognized. / FUDIPO

The thesis outlined in this report has been done as a sub-project in cooperation between the municipalities Borlänge in Sweden and Chisinau in Moldova. The project aimed to explore the region's economic and environmental opportunities for waste incineration with energy recovery, also known as Waste to Energy. At present, the solution to the waste situation is unmonitored landfills with smaller sorting operations. Environmentally, this is a poor solution and although there are plans for change, no specific strategy has been presented. Another important issue is Moldova's dependence on foreign produced energy. The country's energy system is dependent on imported natural gas, and only a small part of the country's electrical energy is produced domestically. What makes the waste to energy so interesting for this region is that it contributes to an improvement in both of these issues by using the waste as fuel to reduce energy dependency. The study has been done without specific waste composition data for the Chisinau region. With this in mind a dynamic model in several steps has been made, designed to obtain new results depending on what waste composition is specified. The results of this study show that implementation of a waste incineration plant in the Chisinau energy system is economically and environmentally feasible, given the current conditions. The proposed plant is designed to annually handle 400,000 tonnes of waste, and would with the assumed waste composition deliver 560 GWh of district heat and 260 GWh of electric energy. This production provides an annual profit of 31.6 M €, which gives a positive net present value after the project amortization. Compared with the city's current solution with landfills and gas turbines, the project also provides a significant environmental improvement. During the plant's design lifetime, greenhouse gas emissions are 53.9%, and only 6.8% with the assumption that only a portion of the carbon content of the waste is of fossil origin.

A Contribuição Nacional Pretendida, apresentada pelo Governo Brasileiro na 21ª Conferência das Partes, em Paris 2015, definiu o compromisso nacional de redução de emissão de gases de efeito estufa (GEE) frente aos demais países que compõem a Convenção-Quadro das Nações Unidas sobre Mudanças Climáticas. Para que este compromisso seja cumprido, medidas de desenvolvimento de baixo carbono devem ser adotadas. Cenários quantitativos de emissão de GEE podem antecipar as estimativas que serão apresentadas nos inventários futuros de GEE. Os cenários quantitativos podem também auxiliar o governo brasileiro a cumprir as determinações do Decreto da Presidência da República no 7.390/10 e da Decisão 2/CP.17 da Convenção do Clima para elaborar, respectivamente, estimativas anuais e bianuais de emissão de GEE. Além disso, os cenários ainda podem reduzir a incerteza do inventário nacional e podem auxiliar na identificação das alternativas de baixo carbono. As projeções de crescimento populacional, de variação da taxa coleta de resíduo, de variação da composição do resíduo coletado e de qualidade de operação dos locais de disposição permitem definir um futuro único, em que serão comparadas as consequências das opções, disponíveis em 2016, de tratamento do resíduo. Para as avaliações, foram estimadas as variações da composição, do poder calorífico e das frações fóssil e orgânica do resíduo urbano. Os prazos e metas considerados no estudo são inspirados nas políticas Nacional e Estadual do Estado de São Paulo sobre Mudanças Climáticas e no Plano Nacional de Resíduo Sólido. Implantações de opções com início em 2016, evoluindo até 30% em 2040 foram simuladas. A coleta e combustão do biogás de aterro, que até 2000 não era praticada no país, hoje é uma realidade. Por essa razão, admite-se a possibilidade da implantação desta opção em todos os locais de disposição de resíduos da Macrometrópole Paulista. Este estudo mostra que, no setor de resíduos, a recuperação e uso energético do metano, associada à reciclagem e tratamento da matéria orgânica de parte dos resíduo coletados pode levar à redução de emissão superior a 45% em relação à observada em 2005. Mostra também que a incineração de material plástico pode ocasionar aumento de mais de 80% em relação à emissão em 2005. / The Proposed National Contribution presented by the Brazilian Government at the 21st Conference of Parties in Paris 2015 defined the national commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) with other countries of the United Nations Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCCC). To fulfill this commitment, policies have to be adopted. Quantitative GHG emission scenarios can anticipate estimates for future inventories of those gases. Scenarios can help the Government to comply with the Decree 7.390/10 and Decision 2 / CP.17 to prepare annual and bi-annual GHG emission estimates. Scenarios can also reduce the uncertainty of the national inventory and may assist in identifying low carbon alternatives. The projection of population growth, the changes on waste collection rate, the differences of collected waste composition of and the variation of operational quality of disposal sites allows to define a single future, in which the consequences of the available options for waste management in 2016 can be compared. Waste composition, lower calorific value and organic and fossil fraction in urban waste were estimated. Deadlines and targets considered in this study were inspired on National Solid Waste Act and São Paulo State policies on Climate Change. Waste treatment options, starting in 2016, raising to 30% in 2040 were simulated. The collection and combustion of landfill biogas, which until 2000 were not common in the country, are now a reality. The possibility of implementing this option in all the Macrometropole Paulista disposal sites is assumed. This study shows that, in the waste sector, recovery and the energetic use of methane, associated with recycling and treatment of organic matter from part of the collected solid waste can reduce emission over 45% in relation to the 2005 observed emission. This study also shows that incineration of plastics can increase emission over 80% as compared to that observed in 2005.

This paper will discuss the conversion of gas produced from biomass into liquid fuel through the combination of naturally occurring processes, which occur in landfills and anaerobic digesters, and a gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility. Landfills and anaerobic digesters produce gases (LFG) that can be converted into syngas via a Tri-reforming process and then synthesized into man-made hydrocarbon mixtures using Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Further processing allows for the separation into liquid hydrocarbon fuels such as diesel and gasoline, as well as other middle distillate fuels. Conversion of landfill gas into liquid fuels increases their energy density, ease of storage, and open market potential as a common “drop in” fuel. These steps not only allow for profitable avenues for landfill operators but potential methods to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. The objective of this paper is to present a preliminary design of an innovative facility which processes contaminated biogases and produces a valuable product. An economic analysis is performed to show feasibility for a facility under base case scenario. A sensitivity analysis is performed to show the effect of different cost scenarios on the breakeven price of fuel produced. Market scenarios are also presented in order to further analyze situations where certain product portions cannot be sold or facility downtime is increased. This facility is then compared to traditional mitigation options, such as flaring and electricity generation, to assess the effect each option has on cost, energy efficiency, and emissions reduction.

This master´s thesis deals with an air cooled condenser. The specific attention is focused on the condenser in the Brno´s waste-to-energy plant SAKO. The general process of calculation of the heat transfer coefficient is introduced, which is the base for the calculation of the condenser´s output. This process is later used for the calculation of a specific condenser. A considerable part of the thesis is concentrated on the analysis of behavior of the condenser of SAKO in various conditions from the theoretical point of view and then also in terms of real operation using provided operational data.

This master thesis deals with the current situation of medical waste management in the Czech Republic and available medical waste treatment methods. The first part summarises the legislation of waste treatment and contains an analysis of the current situation of medical waste management in the Czech Republic and comparison to the situation in the European Union. The second part describes medical waste treatment methods and following technologies for energy utilization when thermal treatment method is applied. In the main part of this thesis, a complex medical waste-to-energy system in a model region is designed according to the input data. The design includes description of the collecting and transportation system of the waste, capacity of the unit and suitable thermal treatment and heat utilization technology choice. A calculation model is created for the proposed unit and based on this model, an analysis on energy utilization effectivity is made. As a result of the thesis, environmental, technical and economical assessment is created based on the estimation of the investment and operating costs.

Master’s thesis deal with the design of waste to energy plant of municipal waste. The design of technology is to build the component parts of plant and basic calculation of individual apparatus. Overall technology concists of pretreatment of municipal waste, which is then stored in the bunker. Pretreatment municipal waste is fed into the counterflow rotary kiln. Flue Gates from the kilns are routed through multicyklony in the heat recovery steam generators (HRSG). The multicyklon separates the pollutants. The HRSG generates steam required properties from the feedwater from the heat kontent of gas. Superheated steam is driven to the condensing turbine with extract steam for distrikt rating and for power generation. The flue gas from the HRSG are passed through purification section, in which are separand pollutants the dry method purification. The left heat content of flue gas is used in heat exchanger with twist tube for preheating feed water for the HRSG. The flue gas are fed to the stack.

The thesis proposes a new approach to assess sustainability of waste management systems. In the first part current mixed municipal waste (MSW) management system of the Czech republic is reviewed and promising MSW treatment techniques are introduced. In the second part a summary of literature on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to assess sustainability of MSW systems is provided. A new sustainability assessment model is proposed by implementing LCA to a current tool called NERUDA used to optimize waste management costing. It is demonstrated how to connect these two concepts in order to aquire a powerful tool for sustainability assessment.

Analysis of the regional energy supply, shows that suitable alternative may be a combination of primary energy sources with the municipal solid waste to energy plant. Starting from the fact that the regional thermal energy needs are characterized by smaller power demand, but relatively significant seasonal fluctuations in heat supply. These factors limit the processing performance of the considered waste to energy plant that could be included in the system of regional energy supply. The aim of the thesis was to propose adequate treatment capacity for regional waste to energy plant and explore alternative solutions in off-gas cleaning for exhaust gases generated during incineration of MSW. The balance sheets of two alternative solutions off gas cleaning are part of the thesis, both in terms of material and energy consumption. Presented evaluation of economic demands alternative arrangement of off gas cleaning includes operating costs and the impact on earnings from energy production.

The main aim of this thesis is to create a sequence of mathematical optimization models with different levels of complexity for the efficient management and waste energy utilization. Stochastic programming approach was utilized to deal with random demand and uncertain heating values. Hence, more applicable model of the waste-to-energy plant has been developed. As the next step, the model is enhanced by heating plant extension. Computations are realized for real-world data and optimal solution is found by using GAMS implementation.