ENERGY RECOVERY FROM MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN THE BRAZILIAN SCENARIO

Municipal solid waste has always been an undesirable asset in society, and its generation grows every year. Inadequate waste disposal may cause many problems, either by the contamination of the environment or by its capacity to serve as a vector for a series of pathogenic elements. The COVID-19 pandemic drew the world’s attention to these challenges and made it clear how they impact society in an unprecedented way. The higher amount of waste and safety supplies discarded, such as masks and facial shields, require an analysis of the current situation of solid waste management along with solutions to increase the capacity for resource recovery. Methods of treating, collecting, transporting, and disposing of municipal solid waste must be integrated with the other levels of the waste hierarchy (prevention, reuse and preparing for reuse, recycling, other recovery (including energy recovery), and disposal). The scientific literature on this subject was verified in this paper, serving as a subsidy for the implementation of possible processes to be used in companies in the area of basic sanitation and city halls, which can benefit from investments that will incur in the generation of products of added value, creating a new link in its business chain. The production and application of integrated municipal solid waste management systems, including energy recovery from refuse derived fuel, can reduce the volume and expenses of municipal administrations with inadequate waste disposal in landfills and promote more sustainable practices in the circular economy scenario. Therefore, this paper sought to highlight the main activities related to municipal solid waste management with an aim to energy recovery

ANALYSIS OF THE AVAILABILITY OF URBAN SOLID WASTE AND BIOMASS IN SOUTHERN SANTA CATARINA AIMING AT ENERGY RECOVERY

Alternative treatments to urban solid waste (USW) landfill and its integration with biomass can generate social, economic, and environmental benefits beyond contributing to the just energy transition in the Carboniferous Region of Santa Catarina State (Brazil). In this paper, were collected and analyzed data on generation, quantity processed, and current USW treatment practices, as well as rice and forest biomass, aiming to identify the potential for application in the development of USW-derived fuel and biomass that can be used in the energy and industrial markets. In 2020, 236,272.2 t of USW were produced by the forty municipalities considered, with 50% concentrated in just five of these. With only three landfill sites in this region, many municipalities dispose of their USW at a distant location, which increases the overall cost of waste management for the municipalities. The total forest biomass handled in 2019 was 2,135,704.31 tons, and rice husk and straw (2020/2021 harvest) were 999,750.00 tons. Based on this amount and the analysis of the points of concentration of these materials, alternative treatments are being studied with a focus on adding value to the waste chain and advances in the development of the waste management sector in Santa Catarina and in Brazil

THE APPLICABILITY OF CO-COMBUSTION OF COAL WITH SEWAGE SLUDGE: A REVIEW

Co-combustion of coal with a secondary fuel, as for example, waste-biomass, including sewage sludge, isan option for its safe its elimination and a sustainable alternative for heat and power generation. Untreated sewage sludge has a negative impact on the environment and society due to its compositional and pathogenic factors. Co-combustion of coal and sewage sludge have advantages over some emissions parameters and improvement of thermal characteristics, but there are limiting factors for its large-scale use, especially regarding to the fuel feed which requiresinnovative methods to develop a product that combinesboth fuels. When it comes to environmental impact, the combined combustion of and coal with sewage sludge presents good opportunities for future research and technological applications to be explored. This review focuses on the combination of coal and sewage sludge, highlighting the possibilities and limitations of the co-combustion using them as fuel

ALTERNATIVES OF DOMESTIC WASTEWATER SLUDGE DRYING PROCESSES FOR ENERGY RECOVERY : A REVIEW

As communities grow, cities need to increase their capacity to collect and treat domestic wastewater. The need of larger domestic wastewater treatment plants and proper disposal of its solid waste has attracted the scientific community to research about new technologies that will use those systems and waste as a way to generate energy. The moisture content of a fuel effects the combustion products and the energy released by the reaction.  Therefore, in order to make biomass to be a viable fuel option, the technological and scientific challenges of the drying process of wastewater sludge must be faced and overcome so the lowest moisture content level is achieved. Conventional drying processes as for example, direct and indirect thermal drying, are commonly used. However, other processes using renewable energy as for example solar drying are also being studied by the scientist around the world. Moisture content, physical-chemical properties as for example, heating values, composition, ash fusibility are all relevant properties taken into consideration when choosing a fuel for a specific application. The herein review is intended to present some existing domestic wastewater drying processes, alternative ways of improving the efficiency of those processes