Heating Value of Municipal Solid Waste

Abstract

This paper describes the processes that are used to calculate the heating value of municipal solid waste in France. The calculation can be done either by using the thermal-balance method of a furnace or a furnace-boiler unit, or by sorting the refuse and calculating the heating value of the homogeneous components. Both methods are described in this paper. The first method measures the heating value of the refuse that is injected into the furnace; the furnace becomes a calorimeter in which thermal balance is achieved on measuring the input and output heats. The second method consists of sorting a 100 kg refuse sample into piles that are as homogeneous as possible so that it can be considered as unchanging. The heating value is determined for each component and the lower heating value of the whole sample is calculated. The advantages and drawbacks of both methods are discussed.