DID YOU KNOW MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE IS USED AS AN ALTERNATE FUEL? Municipal solid waste (MSW) and industrial solid waste can be directly combusted in waste to energy facilities as a fuel with minimal processing, known as mass burn. Midwest Environmental Services currently accepts industrial solids waste for mass burn at approved facilities. The technology presents the opportunity for both electricity production as well as an alternative to landfilling or composting. Mass burn technology, the most common MSW to electricity technology, involves the combustion of unprocessed or minimally processed refuse. The major components of a mass burn facility include:
Once Midwest Environmental Services has accepted container or bulk industrial waste for mass burn it's then transported to an approved facility where the refuse is placed into pits. The refuse is then moved to the combustor hopper to feed the boiler. Heat from the combustion process is used to turn water into steam, with the steam then routed to a steam turbine generator for power generation. The steam is then condensed and routed back to the boiler. The process reduces the waste to an inert ash residue that is about 10% to 25% of its original volume. Residues produced include bottom ash (ash from bottom of combustion chamber), fly ash (which exits the combustion chamber with the flue gas), and residue (including fly ash) from the flue gas cleaning system. The ash residue may or may not be considered a hazardous material, depending on the makeup of the municipal waste. It may be possible to eliminate the production of hazardous ash by preventing the hazardous materials from entering the system. Non-hazardous ash can be mixed with soils for use as landfill cover, or used for beneficial use.
Midwest Environmental Services, Inc. |
