Long term analysis of the biomass content in the feed of a waste-to-energy plant with oxygen-enriched combustion air

Abstract

Thermal utilization of municipal solid waste and commercial wastes has become of increasing importance in European waste management. As waste materials are generally composed of fossil and biogenic materials, a part of the energy generated can be considered as renewable and is thus subsidized in some European countries. Analogously, CO₂ emissions of waste incinerators are only partly accounted for in greenhouse gas inventories. A novel approach for determining these fractions is the so-called balance method. In the present study, the implementation of the balance method on a waste-to-energy plant using oxygen-enriched combustion air was investigated. The findings of the 4-year application indicate on the one hand the general applicability and robustness of the method, and on the other hand the importance of reliable monitoring data. In particular, measured volume flows of the flue gas and the oxygen-enriched combustion air as well as corresponding O₂ and CO₂ contents should regularly be validated. The fraction of renewable (biogenic) energy generated throughout the investigated period amounted to between 27 and 66% for weekly averages, thereby denoting the variation in waste composition over time. The average emission factor of the plant was approximately 45 g CO₂ MJ⁻¹ energy input or 450 g CO₂ kg⁻¹ waste incinerated. The maximum error of the final result was about 16% (relative error), which was well above the error (<8%) of the balance method for plants with conventional oxygen supply.