SOLID WASTE

ENGINEERING
Pattaraporn Kim
Department of Chemical Engineering, Chulalongkorn University
  Introduction to magnitude of problem
 Characteristic of solid waste
 Solid waste management
 Solid waste collection
CONTENT  Waste as resource: green chemistry and engineering,
recycling, composting, source reduction
 Solid waste reduction: combustion processes, types of
incinerators, public health and environment issue
 Disposal by sanitary landfill: site selection, operation,
environmental considerations, leachate, methane and
other gas production, landfill design, landfill closure

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 Solid waste is a generic term used to describe the things we
throw away. It includes garbage, refuse, and trash. It excludes
radioactive wastes and in situ mining waste (U.S. EPA regulatory
definition)

SOLID WASTE

ตัวชี้วดั การจัดการขยะมูลฝอย

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  The classification of solid waste is usually used for choosing the treatment,
collection, recycling, and disposal option

CHARACTERI
STICS OF
SOLID WASTE
Municipal Solid Waste
(MSW) includes all of wastes
generated in community with
the exception of industrial
process waste and agricultural
solid waste

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 Typical
composition of
MSW (2010, U.S.
CHARACTERISTICS residents,
OF SOLID WASTE businesses, and
institutions)

>223 million metric

tones, which equals
to 2.01 kg per
person per day

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  Putrescible waste is the animal and vegetable waste
(decompose quickly)
 Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a subset of solid
waste. MSW is defined as durable goods (e.g.,
appliances, tires, batteries), nondurable goods,
container, packing, food wastes, yard trimming,
miscellaneous organic wastes from residential,
CHARACTERISTICS commercial, and industrial process
OF SOLID WASTE

 Density of loose combustible refuse is about 115 kg / m3

 Density of collected solid waste is 180 to 450 kg / m3
 In landfill, compacted solid waste density ranges 350 to 500 kg / m3
 Well compacted solid waste density ranges 600 to 750 kg / m3
 Within landfill, the density will depend on compaction and depth of the
waste, the age of waste, the composition of waste and its moisture
content
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  Solid waste disposal creates a problem primarily in highly
populated areas.
 Residential location generate approximately 55-65% of al
MAGNITUDE municipal solid waste (MSW)…2 kg per capita per day (USA)
OF PROBLEM  Differences in climate, living standards, time of year, education,
location, and collection and disposal practices create different
amount of MSW

Variability of recycling patterns of MSW Variability of the masses of MSW generated by major country 7
MSW
management
กรมควบคุมมลพิษ

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Source: http://infofile.pcd.go.th/mgt/Overview_waste.pdf
Source: http://infofile.pcd.go.th/mgt/Overview_waste.pdf 9
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Source: http://infofile.pcd.go.th/mgt/Overview_waste.pdf
Source: http://infofile.pcd.go.th/mgt/Overview_waste.pdf 11
EXAMPLE 1: estimate MSW mass

 Example 13.1

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 Example 13.1

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 Solid waste
generation
• Washing, separation, and storage
as to recycle some portion of the
Solid waste handling waste. Public law and education
and storage on site significantly affect this step

Solid waste • Collection includes picking up solid

collection wastes and emptying containers
into suitable vehicles for transport,
including collecting recyclable
SOLID WASTE Transfer to central
storage facility
material

MANAGEMENT • Mass / volume reduction

• Separation into various
Processing facility
components that can be reused

• Organic portion of the waste can be

Product utilization transformed into heat by
incinerator or into fuel gas or
compost by biological reaction

Disposal • The most common means of final

disposal is landfilling
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Element of solid waste management system
 For collection of solid waste that contains putrescible waste, the
maximum period should not be greater than
1. The normal time for the accumulation of the amount that can
be placed in containers of reasonable size
2. The time it take for fresh putrescible waste to decay and emit
foul odors under average storage conditions
SOLID WASTE 3. The length of the fly-breeding cycle, which, during the hot
COLLECTION summer months, is less than 7 days

Two factors to reduce frequency of collection:

1. Unit costs are reduced when frequency is cut
2. The increase percentage of paper and decrease volume of
putrescible wastes

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 Waste as resource

1) Recycling – recycle the products to

make the same or other products or
WASTE AS recover energy or chemicals
RESOURCE
2) Composing – the controlled
decomposition of organic materials such
as leaves, grass (from yard trimming), and
food scraps by microorganisms.

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 Biological process: Anaerobic decomp0sition /
Aerobic decomp0sition
Example site at Ra-yong province

COMPOSTING

Source: http://infofile.pcd.go.th/haz/1-Meetingdocuments.pdf
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  The result of the decomposition is ‘Compost’, a
crumbly, earthy smelling, soil-like material
 A ratio of 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen is
necessary to achieve optimal microorganism
growth and energy production. Odor can occur if
the carbon to nitrogen ratio is not 30:1
 Leaves, straw, and woody materials serve as a
COMPOSTING major carbon source
 Grass and food scraps serve as nitrogen source
 Require both physical and chemical process to
breakdown the organic material
 Temperature of 25-55oC of the pile is commonly
maintain large-scale compost pile

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 Refuse Derive Fuel (RDF)

RDF is a fuel produced from various

types of waste

RDF consists largely of combustible

components of such waste, as non
recyclable plastics (not including PVC),
paper cardboard, labels, and other
corrugated materials.

Source: http://infofile.pcd.go.th/haz/1-Meetingdocuments.pdf 20
Source: http://reo13.go.th/KM_reo13/data_know/53-09-15_RDF.pdf
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RDF specification
Physical specification
• Net calorific value > 6.5 MJ/kg
• Moisture content < 40 wt.%
• Bulk density > 100 kg/m3
Chemical specification
• Cl2 < 0.8wt.% dry basis
• Ash < 50wt.% dry basis
• Hg < 0.06-0.12 mg/MJ
• Cd < 7.5-15 mg/MJ
• Heavy metal < 190-380 mg/MJ

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Southeastern Virginia public authority’s RDF plant 23
 X
The prevent of waste generation

WASTE AS Productive use of waste material

RESOURCE

Reprocessing of wastes to recover an original raw material

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 The use of recycled
product to make the same
or similar products
Ex. Recycle glass bottle to
make other type of bottle
Close loop,

Recycling
Primary recycling Recycled materials to
make new products with
different characteristic
WASTE AS Secondary from original
RESOURCE recycling Ex. Milk jugs (HDPE) can
make toys or drainage
pipes
Tertiary recycling
The recovery of chemicals
or energy from waste
materials
Ex. Many electronic company
recover the solvents used in
their manufacturing process
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and distill them for reuse
 Several type of materials are commonly recycled, including
 Glass
 Metal (Al, Fe, Cu, Steel)
 Paper (Usually newspaper and cardboard)
 Plastics
Recycling of Recycling rates for some MSW components
materials

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 Recycling of materials
Glass
Partial replacement of cement
CO2 reduction
New glass / bottle Energy intensive
Make other products such as
Glass wool, fiber glass, insulation,
paving material and building products
Non-ferrous
Aluminum / Copper /Tin / Zinc
Metal Can be recycled only it is sorted
and free of foreign product
Iron and steel
PETE: Poly ethylene terephthalate
Plastics Soft drink containers
HDPE: High density polyethylene
Milk bottle, detergent bottle, film products
To recycle paper involves
removing of ink, glue, and
coating, reconverting the paper
into pulp and pressing into new
paper
Paper The process breaks down the
strength of material – new pulp
must be added into recycled pulp
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WASTE AS
RESOURCE

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 กรมควบคุมมลพิษ

ขยะอินทรีย ์
ขยะมูลฝอยทีเ่ น่าเสีย และย่อยสบายได้เร็ว
สามารถนาไปใช้ในการเกษตร เช่นเป็ นอาหารสัตว์ นา้ หมัก
ก๊าซชีวภาพ หรือปุ๋ย

ขยะรีไซเคิล
ขยะทีส่ ามารถนามารีไซเคิลได้ นาเข้าสู่กระบวนการรีไซเคิล
SOLID WASTE
ขยะอันตราย
COLLECTION ขยะทีเ่ ป็ นอันตรายต่อสิง่ มีชวี ติ หรือสิง่ แวดล้อม

ขยะทัว่ ไป
ขยะมูลฝอยทัวไป
่ ไม่เป็ นพิษ และไม่คุม้ ค่าต่อการรีไซเคิล

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Improving the Discuss how to improve Thailand market
market for
for recycles
recyclables

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 Waste
reduction

SOURCE
REDUCTION

Process Reuse of
modification product

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  Other ways of source reduction are the reuse of
durable goods by repairing them when they are broken
or refurbishing them when they are out-dated,
donating them to charity or selling them to others

Some ways that items can be reused are:

REUSE OF  Using durable coffee mugs rather than disposable cups
PRODUCT  Using cloths napkins or towels rather than paper
napkin
 Refilling water bottles rather than buying disposable
water bottles
 Purchase container rather than using disposable plastic
bags

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Process
modification

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 Type of incinerator
• Conventional (Mass-Fired)
incineration
Combustion
• Refues-derived fuel facilities
• Modular incinerator
• Fluidized-bed incinerator
SOLID WASTE
REDUCTION Type of incinerator
• Site selection
Sanitary • Operation and design of landfill
landfill • Leachate – control / collection /
treatment
• Methane and other gas production

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  Combustion is a chemical reaction in which the elements
in the fuel are oxidized in the presence of excess oxygen.
 The major oxidizable elements in solid waste are carbon
and hydrogen. To a lesser sulfur and nitrogen also present
FUNDAMENTAL  With complete combustion, carbon is oxidized to carbon
dioxide, hydrogen to water, and sulfur to sulfur dioxide.
OF Some fraction of nitrogen may be oxidized to nitrogen
COMBUSTION oxides.

A trade-off in destroying the solid

waste and forming air pollutant
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  >700 oC, carbon is ignited
 To achieve destruction all combustible
Mass-burn incinerator material (burn out), it is necessary to achieve
700oC through the bed of waste and ash
 Flame zone the hot volatile gas mix with
oxygen. The reaction is very rapid 1-2 s if the
air turbulence is sufficient

Cross-sectional drawing of a conventional mass-

Combustion chambers in a mass-fired incinerator (a)
fired incinerator 36
Martin grate (b) Dusseldorf grate
Large-scale Mass burn Small-scale Mass burn
incinerator incinerator

Source: http://infofile.pcd.go.th/haz/1-Meetingdocuments.pdf
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 Gasification Pyrolysis
 Partial combustion in which  Thermal process in the
fuel is burnt with less than absence of oxygen
stoichiometric amount of
oxygen  Main product is oil with some
gas with a large distributed
Other thermal  Main product is syngas (CO, content
H2)
treatment
process Heat treatment
of solid waste

Conventional
Gasification Pyrolysis
combustion

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 Disposal by sanitary landfill
• The most commonly used method of
operation at sanitary landfill is called the
AREA METHOD
• Three step processes: Spreading the
waste, compacting it, and
covering it with soil
• The layer of compacting soil is called the
DAILY COVER (used it at the end of
each day)
• The area method is not restricted by The area method
topography; flat or rolling terrain, canyons,
and other type of depression are acceptable
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• The waste and daily cover in a landfill during one operational period form a CELL
• The operational period is usually 1 day
• The waste is dumped onto the working FACE
• It spread in 0.4-0.6 m layers and then compacted
• At the end of each day, COVER material is placed over the cell.
• Dimensions of the cell are determined by
amount of waste and operational period

Recommended depth of cover

Type of Minimum Exposure
cover depth (m) time (Days)
Daily 0.15 <7
Intermediate 0.30 7-365
Final 0.60 >365

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Section view through a sanitary landfill
• A LIFT
Refer to a placement of a layer of waste or the completion of the horizontal active
area of the landfill

• FLUFFY LIFT
The waste is not compacted until 2 m of waste deposit. This is done to prevent
damage in liner as a result of heavy compacting machine

• BENCHES
Are used when the height of landfill exceed 15-20 m. They are used to maintain the
slope stability of landfill for the placement of surface water drainage channels and
the location of landfill gas collecting piping

• FINAL COVER
Is applied to entire landfill after all operation are complete.
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Example 2 –
Determine the
area required for
landfill

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 Leachate
• Liquid that passes through the landfill, extracts dissolve and suspended matter from the
waste material.

• The liquid enters the landfill from external source such as rainfall, surface drainage,
groundwater, and the liquid produced from decomposition of the waste

• The volatile organic chemical produced by this decomposition in the landfill gas often
contribute to contamination of groundwater because they dissolve in the leachate as it
passes through the landfill

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Typical data of the composition of leachate from new and mature landfills

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Quantity
The amount of leachate can be estimated using hydrologic cycle. Similar to
mass balance:

∆𝑆 = 𝑃 − 𝐸 − 𝑅 + 𝐺 ′ − 𝐹

DS = change in storage
P = Precipitation
E = Evaporation
R = Surface water runoff
G’ = infiltration from ground water
F = percolation from landfill as leachate

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 Darcy’s law
• The amount of leachate to leave (exfiltrate from) landfill can be determined using
Darcy’s law (The law used to explain groundwater flow).
• Leachate systems are designed to have hydraulic conductivities on the order of 10-9
m/s
• When using compacted clay liners, the thickness should be approximately 1 m

∆ℎ
v= K
𝐿
∆ℎ
Q=vA= (K )A
𝐿
K is the hydraulic conductivity (length per time)
Dh/L is the hydraulic gradient (length per length)
Q = flow rate of water
A = cross-sectional area through which water flows 46
Example 3 –Determine volumetric flow rate of leachate

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Example 4 –Determine the head of water above the liner
A landfill that is 12x 104 m2 in area has a liner of thickness 0.9 m. Each year
1700 m3 of leachate is collected. The hydraulic conductivity of the liner is
3.9 x 10-10 m/s. What is the head of water above the liner?

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 Leachate collection
• The leachate drainage system is responsible for
the collection and transport of the leachate
collected inside the liner.

• The pipe dimensions, type, and layout must all be

planned with the weight and pressure of waste,
and transport vehicles in mind.

• The pipes are located on the floor of the cell.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Leachate+collection+in+landfills&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5rsXkmtbhAhXc7XMBH 49
dC8ALkQ_AUIDigB&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=fyLWg4iDHlQ-dM:
 Methane and other gas production

Typical constituents found in MSW landfill gas

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Concentration of specified air contaminants measure in landfill gasses (in ppb)

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Example 5 –Methane generated from landfill

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Example 6 –Determine volume of landfill

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Source: http://infofile.pcd.go.th/haz/1-Meetingdocuments.pdf
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http://infofile.pcd.go.th/mgt/Overview_waste.pdf
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http://infofile.pcd.go.th/mgt/Overview_waste.pdf
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Source: http://infofile.pcd.go.th/mgt/Overview_waste.pdf