Thomas Fruergaard Astrup

Management of municipal solid waste incineration residues

The management of residues from thermal waste treatment is an integral part of waste management systems. The primary goal of managing incineration residues is to prevent any impact on our health or environment caused by unacceptable particulate, gaseous and/or solute emissions. This paper provides insight into the most important measures for putting this requirement into practice. It also offers an overview of the factors and processes affecting these mitigating measures as well as the short- and long-term behavior of residues from thermal waste treatment under different scenarios. General conditions affecting the emission rate of salts and metals are shown as well as factors relevant to mitigating measures or sources of gaseous emissions.

Incineration and co-combustion of waste: accounting of greenhouse gases and global warming contributions

Important greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to waste incineration and co-combustion of waste were identified and considered relative to critical aspects such as: the contents of biogenic and fossil carbon, N2O emissions, fuel and material consumptions at the plants, energy recovery, and solid residues generated. GHG contributions were categorized with respect to direct emissions from the combustion plant as well as indirect upstream contributions (e.g. provision of fuels and materials) and indirect downstream contributions (e.g. substitution of electricity and heat produced elsewhere). GHG accounting was done per tonne of waste received at the plant. The content of fossil carbon in the input waste, for example as plastic, was found to be critical for the overall level of the GHG emissions, but also the energy conversion efficiencies were essential. The emission factors for electricity provision (also substituted electricity) affected the indirect downstream emissions with a factor of 3—9 depending on the type of electricity generation assumed. Provision of auxiliary fuels, materials and resources corresponded to up to 40% of the direct emission from the plants (which were 347—371 kg CO2-eq. tonne —1 of waste for incineration and 735—803 kg CO2-eq. tonne—1 of waste for co-combustion). Indirect downstream savings were within the range of —480 to —1373 kg CO2eq. tonne—1 of waste for incineration and within —181 to —2607 kg CO2-eq. tonne— 1 of waste for co-combustion. N2O emissions and residue management did not appear to play significant roles.

Optimal utilization of waste-to-energy in an LCA perspective

Energy production from two types of municipal solid waste was evaluated using life cycle assessment (LCA): (1) mixed high calorific waste suitable for production of solid recovered fuels (SRF) and (2) source separated organic waste. For SRF, co-combustion was compared with mass burn incineration. For organic waste, anaerobic digestion (AD) was compared with mass burn incineration. In the case of mass burn incineration, incineration with and without energy recovery was modelled. Biogas produced from anaerobic digestion was evaluated for use both as transportation fuel and for heat and power production. All relevant consequences for energy and resource consumptions, emissions to air, water and soil, upstream processes and downstream processes were included in the LCA. Energy substitutions were considered with respect to two different energy systems: a present-day Danish system based on fossil fuels and a potential future system based on 100% renewable energy. It was found that mass burn incineration of SRF with energy recovery provided savings in all impact categories, but co-combustion was better with respect to Global Warming (GW). If all heat from incineration could be utilized, however, the two alternatives were comparable for SRF. For organic waste, mass burn incineration with energy recovery was preferable over anaerobic digestion in most impact categories. Waste composition and flue gas cleaning at co-combustion plants were critical for the environmental performance of SRF treatment, while the impacts related to utilization of the digestate were significant for the outcome of organic waste treatment. The conclusions were robust in a present-day as well as in a future energy system. This indicated that mass burn incineration with efficient energy recovery is a very environmentally competitive solution overall.

Life cycle assessment of thermal waste-to-energy technologies: review and recommendations.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used extensively within the recent decade to evaluate the environmental performance of thermal Waste-to-Energy (WtE) technologies: incineration, co-combustion, pyrolysis and gasification. A critical review was carried out involving 250 individual case-studies published in 136 peer-reviewed journal articles within 1995 and 2013. The studies were evaluated with respect to critical aspects such as: (i) goal and scope definitions (e.g. functional units, system boundaries, temporal and geographic scopes), (ii) detailed technology parameters (e.g. related to waste composition, technology, gas cleaning, energy recovery, residue management, and inventory data), and (iii) modeling principles (e.g. energy/mass calculation principles, energy substitution, inclusion of capital goods and uncertainty evaluation). Very few of the published studies provided full and transparent descriptions of all these aspects, in many cases preventing an evaluation of the validity of results, and limiting applicability of data and results in other contexts. The review clearly suggests that the quality of LCA studies of WtE technologies and systems including energy recovery can be significantly improved. Based on the review, a detailed overview of assumptions and modeling choices in existing literature is provided in conjunction with practical recommendations for state-of-the-art LCA of Waste-to-Energy.

Life cycle assessment of waste incineration in Denmark and Italy using two LCA models

In Europe, about 20% of municipal solid waste is incinerated. Large differences can be found between northern and southern Europe regarding energy recovery efficiencies, flue gas cleaning technologies and residue management. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) of waste incineration often provides contradictory results if these local conditions are not properly accounted for. The importance of regional differences and site-specific data, and choice of LCA model itself, was evaluated by assessment of two waste incinerators representing northern and southern Europe (Denmark and Italy) based on two different LCA models (SimaPro and EASEWASTE). The results showed that assumptions and modelling approaches regarding energy recovery/substitution and direct air emissions were most critical. Differences in model design and model databases mainly had consequences for the toxicity-related impact categories. The overall environmental performance of the Danish system was better than the Italian, mainly because of higher heat recovery at the Danish plant. Flue gas cleaning at the Italian plant was, however, preferable to the Danish, indicating that efficient flue gas cleaning may provide significant benefits. Differences in waste composition between the two countries mainly affected global warming and human toxicity via water. Overall, SimaPro and EASEWASTE provided consistent ranking of the individual scenarios. However, important differences in results from the two models were related to differences in the databases and modelling approaches, in particular the possibility for modelling of waste-specific emissions affected the toxicity-related impact categories. The results clearly showed that the use of site-specific data was essential for the results.

Bioenergy production from perennial energy crops: a consequential LCA of 12 bioenergy scenarios including land use changes.

In the endeavor of optimizing the sustainability of bioenergy production in Denmark, this consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluated the environmental impacts associated with the production of heat and electricity from one hectare of Danish arable land cultivated with three perennial crops: ryegrass (Lolium perenne), willow (Salix viminalis) and Miscanthus giganteus. For each, four conversion pathways were assessed against a fossil fuel reference: (I) anaerobic co-digestion with manure, (II) gasification, (III) combustion in small-to-medium scale biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plants and IV) co-firing in large scale coal-fired CHP plants. Soil carbon changes, direct and indirect land use changes as well as uncertainty analysis (sensitivity, MonteCarlo) were included in the LCA. Results showed that global warming was the bottleneck impact, where only two scenarios, namely willow and Miscanthus co-firing, allowed for an improvement as compared with the reference (-82 and -45 t CO₂-eq. ha⁻¹, respectively). The indirect land use changes impact was quantified as 310 ± 170 t CO₂-eq. ha⁻¹, representing a paramount average of 41% of the induced greenhouse gas emissions. The uncertainty analysis confirmed the results robustness and highlighted the indirect land use changes uncertainty as the only uncertainty that can significantly change the outcome of the LCA results.

Long-term leaching from MSWI air-pollution-control residues: Leaching characterization and modeling

Long-term leaching of Ca, Fe, Mg, K, Na, S, Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, Mo, Sb, Si, Sn, Sr, Ti, V, P, Cl, and dissolved organic carbon from two different municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) air-pollution-control residues was monitored during 24 months of column percolation experiments; liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratios of 200-250L/kg corresponding to more than 10,000 years in a conventional landfill were reached. Less than 2% of the initially present As, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, and Sb had leached during the course of the experiments. Concentrations of Cd, Fe, Mg, Hg, Mn, Ni, Co, Sn, Ti, and P were generally bellow 1microg/L; overall less than 1% of their mass leached. Column leaching data were further used in a two-step geochemical modeling in PHREEQC in order to (i) identify solubility controlling minerals and (ii) evaluate their interactions in a water-percolated column system over L/S of 250L/kg. Adequate predictions of pH, alkalinity, and the leaching of Ca, S, Al, Si, Ba, and Zn were obtained in a simultaneous calculation. Also, it was suggested that removal of Ca and S together with depletion of several minerals apparently caused dissolution of ettringite-like phases. In turn, significant increase in leaching of oxyanions (especially Sb and Cr) was observed at late stage of leaching experiments.

Mechanical-biological treatment: performance and potentials. An LCA of 8 MBT plants including waste characterization.

In the endeavour of avoiding presence of biodegradable waste in landfills and increasing recycling, mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) plants have seen a significant increase in number and capacity in the last two decades. The aim of these plants is separating and stabilizing the quickly biodegradable fraction of the waste as well as recovering recyclables from mixed waste streams. In this study the environmental performance of eight MBT-based waste management scenarios in Spain was assessed by means of life cycle assessment. The focus was on the technical and environmental performance of the MBT plants. These widely differed in type of biological treatment and recovery efficiencies. The results indicated that the performance is strongly connected with energy and materials recovery efficiency. The recommendation for upgrading and/or commissioning of future plants is to optimize materials recovery through increased automation of the selection and to prioritize biogas-electricity production from the organic fraction over direct composting. The optimal strategy for refuse derived fuel (RDF) management depends upon the environmental compartment to be prioritized and the type of marginal electricity source in the system. It was estimated that, overall, up to ca. 180-190 kt CO2-eq. y(-1) may be saved by optimizing the MBT plants under assessment.

Life cycle assessment of biofuel production from brown seaweed in Nordic conditions

The use of algae for biofuel production is expected to play an important role in securing energy supply in the next decades. A consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) and an energy analysis of seaweed-based biofuel production were carried out in Nordic conditions to document and improve the sustainability of the process. Two scenarios were analyzed for the brown seaweed (Laminaria digitata), namely, biogas production (scenario 1) and bioethanol+biogas production (scenario 2). Potential environmental impact categories under investigation were Global Warming, Acidification and Terrestrial Eutrophication. The production of seaweed was identified to be the most energy intensive step. Scenario 1 showed better performance compared to scenario 2 for all impact categories, partly because of the energy intensive bioethanol separation process and the consequently lower overall efficiency of the system. For improved environmental performance, focus should be on optimization of seaweed production, bioethanol distillation, and management of digestate on land.

Quantification of the resource recovery potential of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ashes

Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) plays an important role in many European waste management systems. However, increasing focus on resource criticality has raised concern regarding the possible loss of critical resources through MSWI. The primary form of solid output from waste incinerators is bottom ashes (BAs), which also have important resource potential. Based on a full-scale Danish recovery facility, detailed material and substance flow analyses (MFA and SFA) were carried out, in order to characterise the resource recovery potential of Danish BA: (i) based on historical and experimental data, all individual flows (representing different grain size fractions) within the recovery facility were quantified, (ii) the resource potential of ferrous (Fe) and non-ferrous (NFe) metals as well as rare earth elements (REE) was determined, (iii) recovery efficiencies were quantified for scrap metal and (iv) resource potential variability and recovery efficiencies were quantified based on a range of ashes from different incinerators. Recovery efficiencies for Fe and NFe reached 85% and 61%, respectively, with the resource potential of metals in BA before recovery being 7.2%ww for Fe and 2.2%ww for NFe. Considerable non-recovered resource potential was found in fine fraction (below 2mm), where approximately 12% of the total NFe potential in the BA were left. REEs were detected in the ashes, but the levels were two or three orders of magnitude lower than typical ore concentrations. The lack of REE enrichment in BAs indicated that the post-incineration recovery of these resources may not be a likely option with current technology. Based on these results, it is recommended to focus on limiting REE-containing products in waste for incineration and improving pre-incineration sorting initiatives for these elements.