Modelling and control of a waste to energy plant : waste bed temperature control using a feedback control law

In this dissertation the waste incineration process has been described, an overview of the state of the art control methodologies given and a new approach, based on input/output linearization and extremum seeking has been presented. This approach has been tested on a model appositely designed. The results have shown that it is possible to control the waste bed temperature to certain reference values, with robustness against changes in the waste composition. It is furthermore possible to identify reference values for the waste bed temperature such as the steam ow rate is maximized, while at the same time fulfilling operational constraints

Municipal solid waste management system: decision support through systems analysis

Thesis submitted to the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental EngineeringThe present study intends to show the development of systems analysis model applied to solid waste management system, applied into AMARSUL, a solid waste management system responsible for the management of municipal solid waste produced in Setúbal peninsula, Portugal. The model developed intended to promote sustainable decision making, covering the four columns: technical, environmental, economic and social aspects. To develop the model an intensive literature review have been conducted. To simplify the discussion, the spectrum of these systems engineering models and system assessment tools was divided into two broadly-based domains associated with fourteen categories although some of them may be intertwined with each other. The first domain comprises systems engineering models including cost-benefit analysis, forecasting analysis, simulation analysis, optimization analysis, and integrated modeling system whereas the second domain introduces system assessment tools including management information systems, scenario development, material flow analysis, life cycle assessment (LCA), risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment, socio-economic assessment, and sustainable assessment. The literature performed have indicated that sustainable assessment models have been one of the most applied into solid waste management, being methods like LCA and optimization modeling (including multicriteria decision making(MCDM)) also important systems analysis methods. These were the methods (LCA and MCDM) applied to compose the system analysis model for solid waste. The life cycle assessment have been conducted based on ISO 14040 family of norms; for multicriteria decision making there is no procedure neither guidelines, being applied analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based Fuzzy Interval technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). Multicriteria decision making have included several data from life cycle assessment to construct environmental, social and technical attributes, plus economic criteria obtained from collected data from stakeholders involved in the study. The results have shown that solutions including anaerobic digestion in mechanical biological treatment plant plus anaerobic digestion of biodegradable municipal waste from source separation, with energetic recovery of refuse derived fuel (RDF) and promoting pays-as-you-throw instrument to promote recycling targets compliance would be the best solutions to implement in AMARSUL system. The direct burning of high calorific fraction instead of RDF has not been advantageous considering all criteria, however, during LCA, the results were the reversal. Also it refers that aerobic mechanical biological treatment should be closed.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - SFRH/BD/27402/200

モンゴル国ウランバートル市の持続的廃棄物管理の改善のためのLCAと多基準意思決定分析

In last years, as the lifestyle and socio-economic situation of the citizens is changing, in this regards amount of the municipal waste and type of waste are also increasing in the Ulaanbaatar city. This research analyzed each of the four waste disposal methods, to develop and select the waste management best option. To estimates economic efficiency Life cycle cost analysis methods based on the municipal waste disposal budget data; used tool a Cost-benefit analysis of each scenario explores opportunities to increase waste revenues and reduce annual costs. Also analyzes Life cycle impact assessment for each waste treatment option and includes a Life cycle assessment that considers direct and indirect GHG emissions during landfilling, waste incineration, composting, recycling, or energy consumption from waste treatment in Ulaanbaatar city. This research was conducted based on the Multi criteria decision analysis method for evaluating the performance of each scenario considered hereafter as well as interviews with experts. These interviews were used to identify key ideas related to waste management. These issues have been considered using Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution analysis to determine the potential impacts of environmental, economic, technical, and social factors, which were analyzed for each waste disposal method to develop and select the best option. As the result, MBT plant has not been advantageous considering all criteria. However, waste incineration is the most cost-effective option in Ulaanbaatar city in terms of saving coal resources and reducing coal production.北九州市立大

Comparative Analysis of the Implementation of Support Vector Machines and Long Short-Term Memory Artificial Neural Networks in Municipal Solid Waste Management Models in Megacities

[EN] The development of methodologies to support decision-making in municipal solid waste (MSW) management processes is of great interest for municipal administrations. Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques provide multiple tools for designing algorithms to objectively analyze data while creating highly precise models. Support vector machines and neuronal networks are formed by AI applications offering optimization solutions at different managing stages. In this paper, an implementation and comparison of the results obtained by two AI methods on a solid waste management problem is shown. Support vector machine (SVM) and long short-term memory (LSTM) network techniques have been used. The implementation of LSTM took into account different configurations, temporal filtering and annual calculations of solid waste collection periods. Results show that the SVM method properly fits selected data and yields consistent regression curves, even with very limited training data, leading to more accurate results than those obtained by the LSTM method.Thanks are due to the Final Disposal Area of the Special Administrative Unit of Public Services of Bogota and the National Planning Department (DNP) for their support in providing data to perform this research.Solano-Meza, J.; Orjuela Yepes, D.; Rodrigo-Ilarri, J.; Rodrigo-Clavero, M. (2023). Comparative Analysis of the Implementation of Support Vector Machines and Long Short-Term Memory Artificial Neural Networks in Municipal Solid Waste Management Models in Megacities. International Journal of Environmental research and Public Health (Online). 20(5):1-21. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph2005425612120

Integració de diferents tècniques de monitorització ambiental i anàlisi de resultats per l'optimització de l'avaluació de riscos

Waste management is one of the main troubles of the current society. Incineration has many advantages in front of other disposal options since the volume of the wastes is reduced, pathogens are eliminated and involves energy recovery. On the other hand, the potential emissions of hazardous substances such as dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) and other persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) as well as of heavy metals, generate concern on the population living around of the incinerators (syndrome NIMBY - "Not In My BackYard"). The objective of the thesis is the application of different monitoring and data analysis tools in other to assess the heath risks generated by incineration. The work has been divided into 6 Chapters including six articles where different methodologies are used to assess the environmental impact and the heath risks of different incinerators.Chapter I includes a brief introduction about waste incineration and the potential risks associated to its emissions. In Chapter II, soils and herbage are used as long and short term pollution monitors. Two articles are included. In the first article, the impact of an industrial waste incinerator is studied , while in the second one a municipal solid waste incinerator was assessed. In both studies, the results indicated that neither was a relevant source of heavy metals and PCDD/Fs.In Chapter III, the levels of PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PCNs and heavy metals were measured around a municipal waste incinerator. Two articles were included in this area. In the first article, the use of passive samplers (polyurethane foam) was investigated. In the second article, the levels of PCDD/Fs and heavy metals in ambient air around a municipal waste incinerator are presented. The Principal Component Analysis was also used in order to get information about the relationship between samples, pollutants and possible sources. The results indicated a remarkable difference between ambient (inmission) and the incinerator (emission) profiles. These results indicated that the current PCDD/Fs levels are more related to other sources (for example to traffic emissions).In Chapter IV, the impact of an incinerator is studied using biological monitoring (for plant workers). The results indicated a diminishment in the levels of the PCDD/Fs while the concentrations of the other organic compounds studied were similar to those found in the previous studies (including the control). No differences were found between the different workers according to their tasks in the incinerator (plant, administration or laboratory).In Chapter V the propagation of uncertainty and variability in the heath risks assessment was evaluated. A new tool, Fuzzy Latin Hypercube Sampling (FLHS), was used. The case study of the evaluation of the risks produces by the emissions of PCDD/Fs by an incinerator was used. This tool showed superiority above other convention methodologies such as the Monte Carlo Simulation.Finally, in Chapter V the general conclusions are presented. The results of the different studies of the different waste incinerators of Spain showed the effectiveness of the current restrictive legislations around the emissions of PCDD/Fs and metals by incinerators. The results indicated that current incinerator emissions do not involve additional risks for the population living around them.La gestió dels residus és un dels problemes amb que s'enfronta la societat actual. La incineració té molts avantatges davant d'altres sistemes de disposició de residus, ja que suposa una reducció del volum, la recuperació d'energia i l'eliminació d'agents patògens. Per altra banda, les potencials emissions de substàncies perilloses associades a la incineració, com les dioxines i furans (PCDD/Fs) i d'altres compostos orgànics persistents com els bifenils policlorats (PCBs) o els naftalens policlorats (PCNs), així com de metalls pesants, desperten preocupació a la gent que viu a les rodalies de les incineradores (síndrome NIMBY - "Not In My BackYard"). L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és l'aplicació de diferents tècniques de monitorització i d'anàlisi de resultats per avaluar els riscos generats per la incineració de residus. El treball s'ha dividit en sis Capítols que inclouen sis articles en els quals que s'avalua l'impacte ambiental i els riscos per la salut derivats de diferents incineradores. a través de diverses metodologies. El Capítol I inclou una breu introducció sobre la incineració de residus i els potencials riscos associats a les seves emissions. Al Capítol II s'utilitzen els sòls i les herbes com a monitors de contaminació ambiental a llarg i curt termini. Aquesta part consta de dos articles. En el primer, es va estudiar l'impacte d'una incineradora de residus industrials, mentre que en el segon es va avaluar una incineradora de residus sòlids urbans. En ambdós casos, els resultats van indicar que les incineradores estudiades no eren una font rellevant de PCDD/Fs i metalls.Al Capítol III es presenten els nivells de PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PCNs i metalls pesants en aire als voltants d'una incineradora de residus sòlids urbans. Es van publicar dos articles en aquesta àrea. En el primer article, es va investigar la utilització captadors passius, en forma de discs de poliuretà (discs PUF), per la mesura dels compostors orgànics persistents COPs. En el segon article, es van presentar els resultats dels nivells en aire de PCDD/Fs i metalls pesants als voltants de la incineradora. També s'utilitzà l'Anàlisi de Components Principals (ACP) com a eina per obtenir informació sobre la relació entre les mostres, els contaminats i les possibles fonts. Els resultats van mostrar una diferència notable entre els perfils de les mostres ambientals i els de la incineradora, indicant que els nivells actuals de PCDD/Fs de la zona estarien més relacionats amb d'altres tipus de fonts (p.ex., el trànsit).Al Capítol IV, s'estudia l'impacte d'una incineradora a partir d'un control biològic dels seus treballadors. Els resultats van indicar una disminució en els nivells de dioxines mentre que per la resta de compostos les concentracions van ser molt similars a l'estudi control. No es van trobar diferències entre les concentracions de compostos orgànics d'acord amb els diferents llocs de treball (planta, laboratori o administració). Els resultats van indicar que els treballadors de la incineradora no estan exposats a PCDD/Fs o altres substàncies orgàniques.Al Capítol V, s'analitza la propagació de la incertesa i la variabilitat associades als diferents paràmetres implicats en l'avaluació de riscos. Per l'anàlisi es va utilitzar una nova aproximació, la Fuzzy Latin Hypercube Sampling (FLHS). Aquest mètode es va aplicar al cas d'estudi del risc produït per les emissions de dioxines i furans (PCDD/Fs) d'una incineradora. El model FHLS va mostrar superioritat davant d'altres mètodes convencionals d'anàlisi de la incertesa com és l'Anàlisi de Monte Carlo. Finalment, al Capítol VI es presenten les conclusions generals. Els estudis realitzats en diverses incineradores espanyoles han demostrat l'efectivitat de la legislació vigent, molt estricta en quant a les emissions de dioxines i furans i de metalls pesants. En cap dels casos, els resultats han indicat que les incineradores estudiades fossin una font rellevant d'aquests contaminats i, per tant un risc addicional per la gent que viu a les rodalies

Healthcare waste management in Istanbul: improving decision making

Turkey's accession to European Union requires compliance with the EU legislation. Healthcare waste is one waste stream which will be affected by this accession. Currently, in Turkey, especially in large provinces (such as Istanbul) there is an increasing pressure on the government authorities to develop a sustainable approach to healthcare waste management and integrate strategies aiming at pursuing sustainable society. In this respect, the purpose of this research was to develop a framework to support selection and planning of the future healthcare waste treatment systems in Istanbul. In this study, an Istanbul-scale system dynamics model was developed to estimate future healthcare waste generation to 2040 and it was identified whether any of the assumptions made, because of the data gaps, have any significant influence on the outcomes of the model. The study found that more precise data are required on treatment types (acute or chronic), patient episodes (inpatient and outpatient figures in an age spectrum) and waste generation profiles (e.g. anatomic, genotoxic, sharps, etc.) of healthcare institutions. The model also determined a high potential in decreasing healthcare waste amounts (up to. 10,000tpa) through implementing effective segregation along with a significant proportion of the healthcare waste (77%) which being incinerated could, in principle, be treated through alternative technologies. The data generated by the model was used in the context of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) by identifying various criteria, measuring them and ranking their relative importance from the point of key stakeholders via a questionnaire within four future scenarios. It was found that autoclave/hydroclave technology option for the treatment of healthcare waste suitable for alternative treatment (HCW SAT) and then their disposal through landfilling with energy recovery has potential to be an optimum option and these alternative treatment methods along with an efficient healthcare waste segregation scheme should be given more attention by the authorities in Istanbul. The methodology used in this project has been developed based on the primary aim of the project which is to enable the decision makers in Istanbul to gain an improved perception of the decision problem

Integrated Waste Management

This book reports research on policy and legal issues, anaerobic digestion of solid waste under processing aspects, industrial waste, application of GIS and LCA in waste management, and a couple of research papers relating to leachate and odour management

Gasification for Practical Applications

Although there were many books and papers that deal with gasification, there has been only a few practical book explaining the technology in actual application and the market situation in reality. Gasification is a key technology in converting coal, biomass, and wastes to useful high-value products. Until renewable energy can provide affordable energy hopefully by the year 2030, gasification can bridge the transition period by providing the clean liquid fuels, gas, and chemicals from the low grade feedstock. Gasification still needs many upgrades and technology breakthroughs. It remains in the niche market, not fully competitive in the major market of electricity generation, chemicals, and liquid fuels that are supplied from relatively cheap fossil fuels. The book provides the practical information for researchers and graduate students who want to review the current situation, to upgrade, and to bring in a new idea to the conventional gasification technologies