Sadhan Kumar Ghosh

A comparative assessment of waste incinerators in the UK

The uptake in Europe of Energy from Waste (EfW) incinerator plants has increased rapidly in recent years. In the UK, 25 municipal waste incinerators with energy recovery are now in operation; however, their waste supply chains and business practices vary significantly. With over a hundred more plant developments being considered it is important to establish best business practices for ensuring efficient environmental and operational performance. By reviewing the 25 plants we identify four suitable case study plants to compare technologies (moving grate, fluidised bed and rotary kiln), plant economics and operations. Using data collected from annual reports and through interviews and site visits we provide recommendations for improving the supply chain for waste incinerators and highlight the current issues and challenges faced by the industry. We find that plants using moving grate have a high availability of 87-92%. However, compared to the fluidised bed and rotary kiln, quantities of bottom ash and emissions of hydrogen chloride and carbon monoxide are high. The uptake of integrated recycling practices, combined heat and power, and post incineration non-ferrous metal collections needs to be increased among EfW incinerators in the UK. We conclude that one of the major difficulties encountered by waste facilities is the appropriate selection of technology, capacity, site, waste suppliers and heat consumers. This study will be of particular value to EfW plant developers, government authorities and researchers working within the sector of waste management.

Root cause analysis, Lean Six Sigma and test of hypothesis

Purpose – In implementing Six Sigma and/or Lean Six Sigma, a practitioner often faces a dilemma of how to select the subset of root causes from a superset of all possible potential causes, popularly known as root cause analysis (RCA). Generally one resorts to the cause and effect diagram for this purpose. However, the practice adopted for identification of root causes is in many situations quite arbitrary and lacks a systematic, structured approach based on the rigorous data driven statistical analysis. This paper aims at developing a methodology for validation of potential causes to root causes to aid practitioners.Design/methodology/approach – Discussion has been made on various methods for identification and validation of potential causes to root causes with the help of a few real life examples for effective Lean Six Sigma implementation.Findings – The cause and effect diagram is the frequently adopted method for identifying potential causes out of a host of methods available for such identification. T...

Waste electrical and electronic equipment management and Basel Convention compliance in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) nations

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) nations account for one-quarter of the world’s land area, having more than 40% of the world’s population, and only one-quarter of the world gross national income. Hence the study and review of waste electrical and electronic equipment management systems in BRICS nations is of relevance. It has been observed from the literature that there are studies available comparing two or three country’s waste electrical and electronic equipment status, while the study encompassing the BRICS nations considering in a single framework is scant. The purpose of this study is to analyse the existing waste electrical and electronic equipment management systems and status of compliance to Basel convention in the BRICS nations, noting possible lessons from matured systems, such as those in the European Union EU) and USA. The study introduced a novel framework for a waste electrical and electronic equipment management system that may be adopted in BRICS nations and revealed that BRICS countries have many similar types of challenges. The study also identified some significant gaps with respect to the management systems and trans-boundary movement of waste electrical and electronic equipment, which may attract researchers for further research.

Improvement of service quality by reducing waiting time for service

Abstract One of the major concerns of any service organisation is the time customers have to spend waiting for service. As is well known, waiting time depends on a number of quantities, such as the system arrival rate, service rate, type of services, time of the day, and efficiency of the servers. In this paper, we propose a service model appropriate in the Indian banking industry and discuss the effectiveness of various solutions using simulation. The best solution found from the alternatives has been implemented. In this paper, we summarize the efforts and the results thereof.

Selection of critical processes for “process improvement”

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a criterion for selection of critical sub‐processes when all the sub‐processes cannot be taken up simultaneously for improvement. There exist various methods but the practitioners get utterly confused because of the existence of these multiple options. In this paper, the goal is to assist practitioners in the selection of the critical sub‐processes.Design/methodology/approach – The authors discuss various statistical methods such as correlation and regression, simulation, basic statistics such as average, standard deviation, coefficient of variation % (C.V.%), etc. for the selection and identification of the critical sub‐processes. The strengths and weaknesses of these methods have been compared through empirical analysis based on real‐life case examples.Findings – The stepwise regression and simulation have been found to yield identical results. However, from the perspective of application, stepwise regression has been found to be a preferred option.Origi...

E-Waste Recycling as Criteria for Green Computing Approach: Analysis by QFD Tool

Green computing is an environmentally responsible approach to reduce electronic waste and power consumption that helps in use of computing resources efficiently. With the increase in use of computer and other electronic devices the energy consumption and carbon footprint are also increasing. E-waste recycling is one of the important approaches towards green computing. This paper focuses on the approaches of green computing and how it minimizes the environmental impacts of computers and other electronic devices effectively by e-waste recycling. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) analytical tool is used to find different parameters from primary research data those affect the e-waste recycling practice as green computing approach. The result will help the stakeholders in implementing green computing approach.

Improvement of claim processing cycle time through Lean Six Sigma methodology

Purpose – In the service sector, reduction of cycle time is one of the key issues. Among various approaches, Lean Six Sigma became very popular as it provides the organisation the desired speed with quality. The purpose of this paper is to present a Lean Six Sigma case study for reducing cycle time in the claim settlement process in insurance or financial services.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents an application of Lean Six Sigma methodology for claim settlement cycle time reduction in the insurance sector.Findings – Lean Six Sigma is found to work very well in the insurance sector for reducing process cycle time by carrying out process changes. Mixing statistical and analytical techniques helps to improve the process speed and is very well demonstrated by Lean Six Sigma approach for service organizations.Originality/value – This paper utilizes Lean and Six Sigma approaches in process improvement and presents an application. The main idea behind this paper is to demonstrate how combining L...

Issues in Pareto analysis and their resolution

Vilfredo Pareto established the ‘Pareto principle’, which is also known as ‘vital few, trivial many’, to help in identifying ‘vital few’ errors for problem-solving. However, in many industrial applications, issues such as (a) the incorrect selection of the ‘vital few’ errors, (b) the interrelationship among errors and (c) the merging-up errors of different processes together need to be addressed. Otherwise, the chances are pretty high that the application of Pareto analysis will fail to correctly identify the ‘vital few’ errors, leading to an incorrect problem-solving approach. In this paper, the authors demonstrate the issues with the help of a real-life case study in a service scenario and suggest the appropriate remedial measures, for effectively separating out the ‘vital few’ causes from the ‘trivial or useful many’ causes to enhance the discriminating power of the Pareto graph.

Impact of different schemes for treating landfill leachate

Different technological schemes for treating the leachate generated by an existing landfill were compared in a life cycle perspective. On-site advanced processes based on reverse osmosis and evaporation were compared to conventional off-site co-treatment with civil sewage in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The inventories of the different scenarios were built by both direct observation of existing facilities and by retrieving data from the literature and similar equipment. Particular care was given for evaluating the energetic and chemical needs for operating the on-site advanced treatments. The evaporation system required 40 kW h/m3 of electricity and 18.5 kW h/m3 of heat, whereas reverse osmosis needed only 8.5 kW h/m3 of electricity. On the other hand the amount of liquid concentrate returned by the evaporation system was only about 0.03 m3/m3 instead of about 0.30 m3/m3 returned by reverse osmosis. The evaporation system also consumed the highest amount of chemicals. Life cycle analysis showed that the impact categories most affected by the different options were human toxicity, both non-cancer and cancer, together with freshwater ecotoxicity. The uncertainty analysis highlighted the major contribution associated with direct emissions from the processes. On the basis of mean values, the qualitative trends were substantially confirmed.

Issues and Challenges of Implementing Waste-to-Energy Practices in India

India’s rapid development and urbanisation have led to major issues and challenges with the provision of adequate waste and energy management services. Conversion of waste-to-energy (WtE) through incineration is now an established method in developed countries for reducing waste mass and volume whilst simultaneously providing heat and power. However, the uptake of WtE technologies in developing countries has not been so successful. This study aims to identify the main issues and challenges with improving municipal solid waste (MSW) management and implementing WtE technologies in India. Specifically, we provide recommendations on actions to be taken to improve waste management and promote WtE technologies. In order to achieve this, we survey and conduct a workshop in India with over 50 participants comprising 26 government body members, 20 industry practitioners and 6 academics involved in waste management in India. Data are gathered on the social, political, technical, financial and environmental barriers to WtE and MSW management. We find that over 35 % of government body members perceive the major problem to be poor waste segregation. In comparison, industries feel that there is a lack of government support in the form of incentives and thought the ongoing challenge remains with finding a technology that can handle the characteristics of domestic waste in India. Interestingly, there seems to be minimal opposition to WtE from the public and environmentalist, which are some of the main issues in developed countries. Recommendations arising from this study are that key improvements are required in education at institutional levels, policies and regulations on the disposal and handling of MSW and financial support from central government to make plants economically viable. There is also a greater need for an increase in collaboration and communication among central and local governments, industries and communities. Further research will be conducted to gather public opinions regarding MSW management and WtE projects in India.